US Trade Zone lifts Bahrain’s prospects as a regional hub: Industry Minister

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The establishment of the US Trade Zone in Bahrain, the first of its kind in the GCC, adds to Bahrain’s ambition to be a regional investment hub, Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, said.

The minister explained that the strategic location of the trade zone, close to the airport, the King Fahad Causeway and the Khalifa bin Salman seaport, will ensure the efficient entry and movement of goods.

The opening of the USTZ took place in February 2022 in Salman Industrial City. The minister said this during the US Bahrain Business Forum, organised by the US Chamber of Commerce, in Washington D.C.

The forum was during the visit of HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, to the United States. Also present were the US Deputy Secretary of Commerce, Don Graves, the Senior Vice President of Middle East Affairs and International Development at the US Chamber of Commerce, Khush Choksy, and the US ambassador to Bahrain Steven Body, and other senior officials.

Al Zayani told the meeting that the longstanding Bahrain-US relations continue to create new opportunities for greater collaboration between the two nations. The minister then took part in a roundtable alongside the CEO of the Economic Development Board, Khalid Ebrahim Humaidan, entitled “The US Trade Zone in Bahrain: The Gateway to the Gulf”.

He stressed that the project further strengthens the economic collaboration between the two nations, given the existing Free Trade Agreement between the Kingdom and the US. Establishment of the followed a visit by HRH CP, PM to the United States in 2019 and a memorandum of understanding signed in 2021 to deepen economic, commercial and industrial cooperation between the two nations.