Most of the Gulf economies have shown remarkable resilience and dynamism, which has contributed to a healthy trend of growth and eased significantly the struggle of finding ways to diversify the economy.

That was the message from Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Hassan Fakhro at the opening of the Licensing Opportunities Forum at the Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel, Residence and Spa, Manama yesterday as part of the Bahrain World Economic Forum.

'Bahrain has taken serious steps towards establishing a solid and far reaching political process, pivoted on the foundation of the rule of law and on a sound economic base,' Dr Fakhro said.

'Its progress has been recognised in many ways including being ranked in first place in terms of economic freedom in the Middle East and North Africa region for the year 2010, and the 19th place globally, in the economic freedom indicator published by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal,' he said.

'Our commercial registration data indicates that the size of accumulated capital invested in Bahrain through the end of 2009 has reached BD18.3 billion ($48.6 billion), an increase of 19.6 per cent over the 2008 figures, which is quite an achievement during a time when the world has been experiencing a general recession,' he said.

'This forum focuses on licensing and transfer of intellectual and industrial properties, which are considered among the important methods of technology transfer and the essential ingredient for a better and more advanced future,' he added.

'We must move fast against the challenges and obstacles that we face in today's competitive global climate, by sharing our expertise and passion for a better and more secure tomorrow.

'Technological development has never been faster and can be tremendously beneficial to economic development.

'We are all focused on the future, and in our efforts to enhance the future economic sustainability of our economies we must not only believe in our ability to create a better future, but we must also make every effort, and use every avenue to do so, and I urge you to take up this challenge, each and everyone of you.

'I congratulate the Licensing Executives Society - Arab Countries and its president Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, on organising the first Licensing Opportunities Forum in Manama, and for what they have accomplished so far,' he added.

'It is a great privilege for me to be here at the forum which is taking place in conjunction with the Bahrain World Economic Summit, and at a time which coincides with the rapid changes that are taking place in various industrial and commercial fields in the Arab world, and beyond.

'We are proud of our partnership with the Licensing Executives Society - Arab Countries, and urge them to continue their excellent work and efforts in providing a suitable environment for technology transfer and business development through their significant role in raising the level of knowledge, and building human capacities in the fields of licensing, intellectual property rights and technology transfer,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service