Plans are underway to bring GPS technology to Bahrain to help parents track the movements of their children.

The Manama-based Ali Venture International Holding Company and a group of investors from the Indian state of Kerala have agreed to set up a factory to produce and sell such devices here, according to a report in our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

They would initially be aimed at parents and schools and later rolled out to companies and private customers.

Company chairman Ali Hassan said negotiations with the investors were nearing completion. "Talks are at an advanced stage and representatives of two Kerala investors are visiting Bahrain in the next few weeks to work out the modalities before we finalise," he said.

Hassan said GPS devices could help Bahrain's schools by allowing teachers to keep track of children via a centralised control room.

"In the future, it can be expanded to cover teachers and other school staff to maximise efficiency and cut wastage," he said.

"We can also later expand it to cover industry and commerce where managers can use the devices to keep tab on their workers. Bosses all over the world want to keep tab on the activities of their staff while they are at work and this technology has already caught on, but in Bahrain it is still a very new thing.

"This would also be eventually made available for individuals who would be able to buy the service at any time."

Hassan said he had already received a lot of inquiries from people keen to buy GPS devices, which could be worn as tags around someone's neck, as cards in their wallets or as identity bracelets. – TradeArabia News Service