Manama, Sept. 11 (BNA): The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), who are organising a high level Bahrain business delegation to China, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT- China). The agreement was signed on the side lines of delegation’s attendance of the China-Arab States Expo in Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia Autonomous Region. The visit is dedicated to improving bilateral relations between the two nations.
The delegation builds upon the recent visit by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, who attended the China Arab States Expo in September 2013. The following year an EDB business delegation visited China and 13 agreements were signed between leading government and private sector organisations from both countries to promote closer economic ties.
The MoU, signed by Khalid Al Rumaihi, EDB Chief Executive and Jiang Zengwei, Chairman of CCPIT – China, looks to establish the terms and conditions for the bilateral cooperation between the two parties, in order to promote investment projects in various sectors, including banking and finance, manufacturing and ICT among others.
It marks the ninth agreement to be signed by the delegation during this visit to China, with aims to strengthen economic relations between the two countries in various fields.
Al Rumaihi, said: “Bahrain is fully committed to playing its part in China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ policy, which is successfully establishing a community of shared interests between China and the Arab World. Events such as the China-Arab States Expo in Yinchuan encourage further collaboration in the field of trade and commerce and raise awareness amongst both public and private sector organisations about the opportunities that closer business links can bring.
“The agreement between the EDB and CCPIT will build on China and Bahrain’s already strong economic and trade partnership and will deliver high value added jobs for Bahrainis and significant returns for Chinese investors.”
Bahrain has been a trading nation for thousands of years and played a key role in the development of the maritime trade routes that connected China to Europe along the old Silk Road. In fact, there is evidence of trade between Bahrain and China as early as the 8th century AD. Today, along the 21st century Silk Road envisioned under China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ strategy, Bahrain is a hub for a number of Chinese businesses looking to access the fast growing Gulf and wider Middle East region.
A large number of Chinese businesses, including Huawei, Bank of China, China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd and CPIC, have already established operations in Bahrain as a means of accessing the wider Gulf market, which is now worth $1.6 trillion and expected to reach $2 trillion by 2020.
Bahrain is one of the leading global centres for Islamic finance and a knowledge hub for the industry. Bahrain is home to the largest concentration of Islamic financial institutions in the world and is at the heart of the industry’s international development. As Ningxia region seeks to develop an Islamic financial centre for China new opportunities exist for Ningxia and Bahrain to cooperate and strengthen ties.
Bahrain, being one of the most diversified economies in the Arabian Gulf region, boasts four decades of experience in the financial services sector and is home to more than 400 financial institutions. The Kingdom’s strategic geographical location, excellent transport infrastructure, as well as its free and open economy makes Bahrain a logistical hub for companies.
The Bahrain EDB has an international office based at the Bahrain Embassy in Beijing with representation in Hong Kong, which provides information and support to interested investors in China.

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BNA 1030 GMT 2015/09/11