First Flight Couriers, India's largest domestic and international courier company with over 1,000 offices and a workforce of 10,000 employees, yesterday launched its Bahrain office.

First Flight's decision to locate in Bahrain reflects the kingdom's established position as a regional logistics and transportation hub.

Strategically located at the heart of the Gulf, Bahrain has long been considered the gateway to the region, with easy access to the large economies of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.

With excellent transport infrastructure, and the causeway linking Bahrain to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain's logistics industry has been growing fast in response to increasing demand from businesses.

"We welcome First Flight's decision to open a branch office in Bahrain, a move that reflects the attractive investment environment and reliable infrastructure in the Kingdom," Economic Development Board Business Development director Vivian Jamal said.

"The logistics sector has received a further boost with the opening of First Flight's operations in Manama - a promising development and one that can raise the volume of trade between Bahrain and the world," he added.

"There is very strong potential for growth in the Middle Eastern market, and in particular the trillion-dollar Gulf economies," First Flight Couriers (Middle East) managing director Johnson Mooda Thomas said.

"With the shortest travel time between its seaport, airport and the logistics processing zones of anywhere in the Gulf, we think that Bahrain offers us the best location from which to access that opportunity," he added.

The kingdom has made, and continues to make, significant investments in its logistics infrastructure, and the industry is set to flourish in the coming years as cargo volumes in the Gulf increases.

Bahrain is ranked second in the Middle East and 32nd of 155 economies worldwide in the World Bank's Global Logistics Performance Index 2010.

The sector of logistics and transport services is expected to grow by six per cent in 2012 and to achieve average growth of 7-8 per cent in the 2013-2015 period.-TradeArabia News Service