BCCI CEO: Private sector key to knowledge-based economy

Manama : Private sector will be at the heart of the efforts to transform Bahrain into a knowledge-based economy, said CEO of Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Dr. Khalid Al Ruwaihi.

Bahrain’s progression to a knowledge-based economy will rely heavily on the private sector, Al Ruwaihi said. He said that strengthening the public-private sector partnership will play a crucial role as well. He was speaking during a public meeting at Bait Al Tijjar premises in Sanabis yesterday.  The event was jointly organized by the Bahrain Chamber, the World Association for Sustainable Development – UK and Ahlia University- Bahrain

Apart from Al Ruwaihi, panelists for the event included; the Founding President and Chairman of the Board of Trustee of Ahlia University Prof.  Abdulla Al Hawaj; and the Founding President of the World Association for Sustainable Development – UK Prof.  Allam Ahmed.

“With the current economic situation facing the world, and especially our region, we believe it is time now to focus on this subject and put all the required efforts to strengthen the partnership between the public and private sectors. It can be easily seen what benefits countries can gain from strategic public and private sectors partnerships to the economic developments,” he said.

“Having said that, it is important to notice that the Bahrain was one of the very few countries which believed in this sort of partnerships. Bahrain has a pioneering experience and has taken long strides in this regard, particularly following the far-sighted Economic Vision launched by the government in 2008. The ultimate goal of Bahrain’s Economic Vision is to transfer its economy to become a Knowledge-based by the year 2030, in which the private sector functions as a dynamic motivator in the national economy,” he said.

“Today, we are eyewitnesses to the implications of the Economic Vision 2030.  We have seen that key sectors such as Education, Communications and logistics, in addition to Health being gradually privatized, we have also seen major housing and infrastructure projects being developed by the joint efforts of the public and private sectors, with other projects underway, key among which the National Health Insurance Scheme,” he said.

“As the representing body of the private sector, the BCCI considers this an unprecedented opportunity to create a vigorous economy capable of establishing high-value-adding companies, attracting investments, and creating jobs. This is also seen as an opportunity to strengthen the national economy by diversifying its sources of income and elevating it from being a traditional economy to a become a knowledge based economy, thus generating more opportunities for high-potential sectors such as the Education and Training, Health, Energy, Information Technology, Banking and Finance, Tourism among others,” he added.

“It is in a bid to keep abreast of these updates, that the Chamber has revamped its strategy, operations as well as its structure, and has assumed a larger role in advocating the interest of the private sector and preparing it for contributing in the economic development process,” he said.