France set to become major trade partner

Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Zayed R. Al Zayani  has participated in the official launch of the French Chamber of Commerce and industry in Bahrain (FCCIB) in the presence of French Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain Bernard Régnauld-Fabre and Chairman of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Bahrain Jean-Christophe Durand. 

The ceremony was held at Ritz Carlton. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said: “The official relations between our two nations were established in 1972 and trade between our countries preceded that by at least 61 years.  The oldest documented business was the visit of Jacques Cartier to Pearl Merchants in Bahrain way back in 1911.”

“The government of Bahrain has embarked new reform steps to make Bahrain a truly viable candidate for foreign businesses and direct investment inflow. With the recent fall in oil prices, we are faced with no other choice but to diversify our economy through the expansion of the private sector contribution to our GDP,” he added.

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce, in coordination with the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibition Authority, spent the last year working hard on getting rid of the deficiencies and reinforcing our strengths.

Many new laws were passed and other internal decisions taken because of these efforts. The logistics sector was 100 per cent restricted to Bahrainis only till recently, but now foreign ownership up to 100 pc in certain activities and 49pc in all other air, land and sea logistic operations are allowed, the minister said. 

The government wants to transform Bahrain into a regional logistical GCC hub and we invite all French interests to take a closer look at what we offer, and take advantage of our unique offering,” Al Zayani said. The Minister touched upon other laws by stating, “In the field of company registration, we have revised both our commercial registration and companies’ law, with the aim to modernise and simplify them. We are extremely proud of the launch of our fully integrated registration system better known as Business Licensing Integrated System (BLIS) in May 2015, which has received the accolade of being the best GCC registration system of the year as recent as on November 25”.  

On the industrial sector, the Minister said: “We have reformed our industrial land policies and that too has led to change in legislation too. We realise that no industry can thrive without land and for that, we had to move quick to provide that vital element of the industrial process.”

“With Manama announced as the 2016 GCC capital of tourism, an initiative, newly-introduced and adopted, for the first time in Bahrain, we are confident of growing our inter GCC tourism flow. Our plans to construct a new exhibition and convention centre are well under way, with the ambition to position Bahrain not only as a regional candidate but more so as a global player, the minister hoped.

He stressed that the launch of the French chamber would enrich the business landscape between Bahrain and France and would grow business relations between the two countries. There are nine French companies registered in Bahrain and another 71 companies with French partnership in Bahrain. 

There is a huge potential to grow French companies’ representation in Bahrain from its mere 157 commercial agencies represented today. 

“The aim should be to expand the total trade between Bahrain and France, which stood at only $317 million for 2014,” he said.

The FCCIB mission is to enhance the business and economic ties between France and Bahrain. The role of this chamber will be to support and complement the current efforts made by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry the French Embassy in Bahrain and the Economic Development Board, in order to promote the business relations between France and Bahrain.

In a near future, the FCCIB will be part of the French Chambers of Commerce and Industry Abroad Network (CCI France International), which is one of the largest business networks in the world with a combined membership base of more than 30,000 companies.