Bahrain hosts business seminar series in Tokyo

The delegation includes His Excellency the Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, Rasheed Al Maraj, Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, Executive Director of Banking Operations, Central Bank of Bahrain, and Boyd Winton, Director of Financial Services at the Bahrain Economic Development Board.

The roadshow, which continues until Tuesday 16th October, follows the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group, attended by the delegation as well as high ranking Bahrain officials including H.E. Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance and Mr Yousif Humood, Assistant Under Secretary of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.

The business seminars will include a number of high level meetings with Japanese officials and financial leaders, and will include visits to leading businesses in Tokyo. The visit provides an opportunity to further strengthen economic and trade relations between Bahrain and Japan, who already share a number of commercial agreements and whose strong diplomatic relations are highlighted this year as Bahrain and Japan celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations.

Bahrain is home to a number of leading Japanese companies including Nomura Securities, Toyota Training Centre, Yokogawa and Daiwa Securities, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Yamato Kogyo.

H.E. Kamal bin Ahmed, Minister of Transportation and Acting Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board, said, "Finance is the strongest and most developed sector of Bahrain's economy, home to more than 400 financial institutions. That these businesses, including those from Japan, are choosing Bahrain as their base for accessing the fast growing Gulf economies and the wider Middle East is testament to the quality of the Central Bank of Bahrain's regulation, the strength of the local Bahraini workforce, and the Kingdom's strategic location and transport links to access the trillion-dollar Gulf market."

Japan is currently Bahrain's fifth largest trading partner. Trade between Bahrain and Japan surged by almost 30% in 2010, and reach $1.25bn compared with $961.5m in 2009.