GCC-US Forum

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning,
I would like to start today by extending a very warm welcome to you all, and also thank the organisers of this conference. You have been thanked before, but you are due much more. To the US Chamber of Commerce and the Arab Bankers Association of North America for their passion to promote trade and investment, thank you. Not only will you do it over the course of the next two days, but you do it each and every day. As I am sure all of you here are aware, the GCC nations and the United States share networks spanning political, social, cultural, and commercial spheres. Today I am delighted to see so many of the people who have contributed to the development of those relationships over the years, including the US Bahrain Business Council, the US UAE Business Council, the US Saudi Arabian Business Council, The American Kuwaiti Alliance, AMCHAM Bahrain, and the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Quite simply as you have heard, there has never been a better time to invest in the Gulf. I know that my colleagues from across the GCC will echo these sentiments over the course of the next two days. For US investors, faced by slow down and reduced returns back home, this opportunity is amplified still further. Volumes of both inflows and outflows of foreign direct investments in the Gulf have never been higher. Nor have the levels of investment we are each of us making in our own nations. You impart to increase revenues from natural mineral wealth, but far more importantly, as a result of our eagerness and commitment to invest now in our post oil future. We are all working to secure the long-term sustainable success of the region. And as a result, we are seeing unparalleled growth and development.

This is overtly visible in the changing skylines and shorelines of our cities and towns. But it is a change that runs far deeper, that reaches into our communities, into our schools and colleges, and into all areas of business and commercial life. There is a palpable air of ambition, of opportunity and entrepreneurship, of innovation. And as our region develops, I see the GCC and our partners in the US entering a new age of investor and commercial development. An age in which we can reach out together to create innovative and exciting partnerships that will help change the face of global business culture.

Here in Bahrain, we are excited by the possibility and our role in that change. We are at the centre, the core of the region. Perfectly positioned to reach out across the gulf by air, by sea, and increasingly by land. Thanks to the causeway linking us to our neighbours in Saudi Arabia, and work on the new friendship bridge which heralds a new age of cooperation between ourselves and Qatar. It is this connectivity matched with our business friendly approach, our low tax environment and our wealth of proud Bahraini talent that is fuelling our success. It is a combination that has seen Bahrain’s foreign direct investment flows almost triple over the space of a year, according to the UNCTAD world investment report. The organisation ranks us as the 11th leading investment destination, not just within the West Asian region, but in the world. A significant achievement I am sure you will agree.

I believe that the opportunities we have to offer, which you will all learn more about during the course of the next two days, can only serve to enhance that stature. Investment opportunities in the financial services sector and in particular across Islamic Finance, in funds, in insurance, in private banking. Opportunities in value-added downstream and light manufacturing industries. Opportunities in information, communication, and technology, due in no small part to Bahrain having the most liberalised telecommunications sector in the Middle East. Opportunities also in health care, in education, in training, and in boutique and business tourism. The list goes on. Of course in terms of US and GCC investments we cannot help but mention the United States Bahrain free trade agreement, ratified 18 months ago – the first FTA to be concluded between the United States and a GCC state. It has stimulated connectivity and commerce between both parties.

Two-way trade between Bahrain and United States I am proud to say rose by 62 percent over the past two years, boosting jobs and market growth on both sides. In my role as Chairman of the Bahrain Economic Development Board, it is only right that I share my passion for enhanced opportunity and prosperity through commercial development and trade partnerships, not just for the Kingdom of Bahrain, but for the GCC states and indeed for the Arab World as a whole. What we need now is a focus on intelligent investment, building in the process a knowledge based, highly skilled gulf economy.

As a region, we cannot afford to invest in low skill, low wage employment. Our people deserve more. By developing our relationships with partners in the United States, we can work toward this goal. I truly hope to see more of these develop as a result of conference activities over the next two days.

But more than that as a global citizen, I believe that through these shared activities, whether they be knowledge sharing, joint ventures, or investor relations, we can create not just prosperity, but greater understanding of one another as people and as nations. And in that understanding, we can work to enhance opportunities for peace and dialogue that spread far beyond our own borders.

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I truly believe that all of you here today contribute to that noble aim. And I wish you the utmost success in your efforts.

Thank you very much.