Bahrain is becoming a hub for Chinese businesses to operate in the Middle East, a top minister has said.

Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Hassan Fakhro said this at the Bahrain-China Business Forum held on the sidelines of the official visit by His Majesty King Hamad to the country.

The forum saw participation of Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Dr Essam Fakhro, members of Bahrain-China Joint Business Council and a large group of businesspersons and investors representing major private companies of both countries, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Dr Fakhro delivered a speech pointing out the investment opportunities available in both countries.

He also pointed out that the investment size and trade exchange have doubled positively to reach $1.9 billion.

The forum featured two key panel discussions.

The first was themed "Opportunities for business in Bahrain" and saw participation from Electricity and Water Authority chief executive Shaikh Nawaf bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, Industry and Commerce Ministry acting under-secretary for industry affairs Osama Al Arrayedh, Bapco chairman and acting chief executive Adel Khalil Al Moayed, Works Ministry assistant under-secretary for technical services Ahmed Al Khayyat, Housing Ministry chief of village expansion and dwelling rehabilitation Redha Mohammed Al Adraj, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority strategy manager Musab Abdulla and Bahrain Airport Company vice-president for infrastructure development and maintenance Abdullah Ahmed Janahi.

The second discussion was themed "Bahrain a Gateway to the Region" and participants included Central Bank of Bahrain executive director of financial institutions supervision Abdulrahman Al Baker, GPIC president Abdulrahman Jawahery, Economic Development Board business development manager Adel Hameed, Mumtalakat vice-president for investment Damien Balmet, Huawei Technologies Bahrain country manager Fly Liuxiang, Bahrain Bay vice-president Abdullah Faisal Al Doseri, Diyar Al Muharraq chief executive Dr Maher A Aziz Al Shaer and ASB Biodiesel chief executive Anthony Dixon.

On the sidelines of the forum, a partnership agreement was signed between Bahrain International Investment Park-based Aba Hussain Middle East and Chinese firm CPIC, one of the largest fibre glass manufacturers in the world.

Leveraging the partnership, Aba Hussain expects to increase productions from 30,000 tonne to 200,000 tonne with total investment of $200 million.

Two memoranda of understanding were also signed.

The first was between Diyar Al Muharraq and Chinamex on behalf of Dragon City Project and the second was between Batelco and Huawei.

An agreement was also signed between Akfa Enterprises and Chinese company CNBM International Corporation regarding co-operation in waterproofing solution. - TradeArabia News Service