Khalid Al Zayani, who has been re-elected as Chairman of BBBF for another term on the sidelines of AGM of BBBF held at Moevenpick Hotel, told The 24X7 News that Islamic banking which once had no scope to flourish a country like UK has now become a reality thanks to the co-operation between the private sectors of both countries.
“The BBBF has had played a major role by bringing both the private sectors closer especially transferring knowledge and expertise of Islamic banking to City of London and we need to do more in other sectors as well,” Al Zayani said.
“The successful visit of the Mayor of London and signing of the MoU with Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry were few but very strategic moves during the BBBF’s previous board term,” he said.
“The British know how in downstream in aluminium, iron and petrochemical can be of immense help for Bahrain and especially in the above three industries. This two way co-operation will impact the existing trade, business, investments and other relations,” Al Zayani explained.
Talking about his previous term as BBBF Chairman he said that when he assumed the Chairmanship of BBBF there was not a single Bahraini on the board while now the ratio is 50:50. “This forum is called Bahrain British Business Forum and we feel that this platform get Bahrainis onboard to make it a real mix of both countries,” he said.
BBBF during its AGM re-elected the current committee members and the addition of new Bahraini committee members. Khalid Al Zayani, Chairman of BBBF gave his annual report which recapped last year’s achievements and outlined the BBBF’s financial report for 2012. New committee members include Adel Fakhro, Mazen Al Umran and Rick Hopper. 2013 also sees Ms Paula Boast take over as Chairperson of the BBBF’s Special Interest Groups (SIG), which incorporates Construction, Security, IT, Organisational Effectiveness, Financial Services, Legal, Youth and the recently established Culture and Arts SIG. A minute’s silence was also held to mark the death of ex-British Prime Minister, Baroness Margaret Thatcher.
Amongst the numerous achievements was growing the BBBF’s membership to 450 businessmen and women representing all sectors of business while the BBBF’s 12 networking functions also attracted over 100 guests at each function. Speakers at these functions have included prominent figures from local organisations and Government bodies such as the Ministry of Transportation, the Bahrain Polytechnic, Tamkeen, Norton Rose and the Ministry of Works, as well as the UK Foreign Office Minister and the British Ambassador to Bahrain.
“This year we have seen an increase in our Bahraini members, further cementing the ties between the two countries. Particularly, we are looking to encourage new young members, the leaders of the future, to complement our diverse membership and bring new sustainable ideas to the table. A big thank you goes to our Executive Committee, and sponsors HSBC, Standard Chartered, Gulf Air, Gulf Brands International AXA Insurance and Hill + Knowlton Strategies, as well as to our extremely supportive British Ambassador, HE Iain Lindsay for opening his home to us on many occasions at the Embassy,” Al Zayani, said.