MANAMA: Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted a Chinese business delegation form Hunan province, known for its flourished heavy industries, at the Chamber’s headquarters yesterday. The visit was organized by Economic Development Board (EDB) and aimed to invigorate trade and encourage investment and partnership between Bahrain and other friendly countries. The meeting resulted in numerous B2B discussions between the delegation and their local counterparts, who mulled the prospect of forging partnership and exploiting investment opportunities.
The Chinese delegation met with their business counterparts in the Kingdom at BCCI, where more than 20 B2B meetings were held between Bahraini and Chinese businessmen in the sectors; manufacturing, machinery, food and beverages, trade, financial services, textiles and construction among others.
The Hunan Province is known for its top ten industries including steel, electricity, chemicals, nonferrous metals, building materials, transportation equipment, agricultural and sideline processing, specialised equipment manufacturing and petroleum processing industry. Hunan has in the past fifty years maintained its focus on heavy industry, which Bahrain’s private and public sectors can benefit from. The total volume of Hunan’s imports and exports in 2012 reached around $22 billion, an increase of 15.5% over the previous year.
Last year, Bahrain and China celebrated 25 years of bilateral relations, and in October 2014, a 10 day visit by a high-level Bahraini business delegation to China aimed at strengthening economic and trade ties between the two countries. The trip, which included visits to four of China’s main commercial centres; Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong and followed on a successful visit by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa to China in September 2013, and led to the signing of 13 agreements with a number of Chinese companies and trade entities.