The Bahrain Association of Banks (BAB) has announced the launch of the first banking magazine in the Kingdom - The Bahrain Banker.

The magazine will include articles, interviews and features demonstrating thought leadership for business today, said a BAB release.

The key contributors will include Bahrain’s senior banking professionals, economists, legal and compliance professionals, senior management from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), as well as specialists on important financial topics such as Islamic banking.

The inaugural edition of The Bahrain Banker will be published at the end of November and distributed at the World Islamic Banking Conference in December. Thereafter, it will be published quarterly, with editions in the spring, summer, autumn and winter, said a senior official.

'We are very proud to launch such a high quality, focused magazine in Bahrain and believe it has a winning formula to engage the banking sectors, members of  The Association and all service providers to the sector,' said Mayank Malik, chairman of the BAB and CEO Citibank Bahrain.

'It is the right time to launch The Bahrain Banker as we all plan 2010 strategies and rebuild the industry to make it stronger, leaner and more efficient. No other publication like it exists in Bahrain today,' he quipped.

'This will not be a trade magazine. It will be thought-provoking, with articles and features contributed by professionals in Bahrain’s banking sector. We will, therefore, offer a better quality read than is currently available,' said Robert Ainey, CEO of the BAB.

'We plan to demonstrate the sector’s professionalism and maturity, given that the Kingdom of Bahrain has the longest and most advanced history in banking in the region,' he added.

The main aim of the magazine is to promote Bahrain’s banking sector worldwide in a cost-effective way through alliances with the Economic Development Board as well as other international banking associations.

The publication will focus on leaders in the industry to generate a greater awareness, among other things, of Islamic banking – its principles and practices – world-wide. The Bahrain Banker will also discuss key Government initiatives such as Vision 2030, Tamkeen, the reform of the labour market and the role of Mumtalakat.

The BAB has employed an expert team to create this unique publication. The team’s editorial coverage will be managed by Abdullah Jonathan Wallace, the former publisher of MEED magazine (Middle East Economic Digest), and Nigel Gibson who previously worked for The Economist newspaper and is author of Al Hilal’s The Guide to Islamic Banking & Finance.

The design and advertising sales team comes from Metaphor, a boutique agency, which currently handles communications for the BAB.

'The global economy has been through a shattering downturn and one of the challenges facing the banking sector is trust. The Bahrain Banker will strive to build that trust between the Kingdom’s banking sector and key local, regional and international partners. Bahrain has many good news stories to tell and we will provide the ideal medium to deliver them,' said Wallace.

The Bahrain Banker is to be distributed through every Bahraini embassy, key Ministries, the Central Bank of Bahrain, the Economic Development Board, the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance, as well as overseas banking associations, conferences, airlines and airport lounges and selected retail outlets.-TradeArabia News Service