QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER BAHRAIN ꞁ ISSUE 1ꞁOCTOBER - DECEMBER 2017 1
2
World Entrepreneurs Investment Forum 2017 31 October to 2 November 2017, Manama, Bahrain Held under the patronage of HRH Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain,the World Entrepreneurs Investment under the (WEIF) took place from 31 October to 2 November 2017 in Manama. Organized “Achieving SDGs Entrepreneurship and Innovation”, the Forum was officially inaugurated by HH Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Advisor to HRH the Prime Minister, and by Hiroshi Kuniyoshi, Deputy to the theme through Forum The WEIF closing ceremony was held on November 2nd at the United Nations House in Manama in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain and in the presence of HE Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, President of the 72nd session of the General Nations; where by Miroslav Assembly of the United the final recommendations and communique of the Forum where submitted to HE Mr. entitled Declaration – Achieving through Innovation”. the Entrepreneurships “Manama SDGs and the UNIDO Director General; and a video statement byHE Mr. António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations. WEIF was attended by over 1,200 delegates from 90 countries,in addition to numerous dignitaries and VIPs from around the world. The main sessions focused “Global on “Women Impact in Industry”, Investing” and the “Maritime-Continental Silk Road Entrepreneurs Alliance”. WEIF was organized with the support of 36 partners. 3
Bahrain Entrepreneurs Expo Dubai Expo and UNIDO sign MoU to host WEIF 2020 As an integral part of WEIF, the ITPO /AICEI Bahrain together with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism organized the Bahrain EntrepreneursExpo with the full sponsorship of Tamkeen. 209 Entrepreneurs, who graduated from the Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion Program (EDIP), presented their products and services. In line with the ITPO / AICEI Bahrain mandate to through entrepreneurship and Dubai Expo 2020 “Connecting Minds, theme Creating promote prosperity the of the Future” as well as the subthemes of Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability; UNIDO and Dubai Expo 2020 officially signed an MoU which formalizes the joint towards inclusive and industrial development in addition to that the organization of the World Entrepreneurs Investment Forum 2020 in Dubai as part of the Dubai Expo. cooperation sustainable Entrepreneur-to-Entrepreneur Bilateral Meetings In addition, 3,000 bilateral meetings were organized, which lead to 74 letters of intent with an estimated investment volume of USD240 million. 4
WEIF Major Side Events 1. The UNIDO Bahrain, Institute, the Government ITPO of Finland and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) organized a specialized course on Gender Equality in Manufacturing for 22 participants and decision makers African Recommendations from 21 countries. were submitted to the WEIF women’s panel. 2. UNDP and UNIDO organized a workshop to developa Chapter for companies Bahrain the UN Global Compact, which was attended by 60 representatives from major banks, government institutions. 3. The ITPO Bahrain and the United Nations Maritime-Continental Silk Road Cities Alliance exchanged letters of intent to institutionalize the UN MCSR Entrepreneurs Alliance at ITPO Bahrain. 4. HE Adnan Kassar, President of Fransabank and Honorary Chairman of the General Union of Arab Chambers, was named Honorary Chairman of the United Nations Maritime-Continental Silk Road Cities Alliance. 5. Study tours and site visits were organized to Bahrainiincubators and heritage sites. ITPO Bahrain and UNIC Bahrain participated at the Dhofar Conference on entrepreneurs, which was held in Salalah, Oman, under the patronage of HE Doctor Salah bin Saeed Musin, Head of the Economic and Financial Committee of the Shura Council. The event, which included workshops and an exhibition area for entrepreneurs, 5 Dhofar Industry and Marketing Conference 10 and 11 October 2017 Salalah, Oman and EDIP Training of Trainers 4 October 2017 Ankara, Turkey At the request of KOSGEB, the Turkish SME Agency, ITPO Bahrain conducted acapacity building programto develop the Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion Program(EDIP) in Turkey, with a center planned to be fully operational by the third quarter of 2018. KOSGEB already provides support to 2.5 million MSMEs and entrepreneurs. The EDIP Centre will play a vital role to strengthen cooperation, technology transfer and joint investments between Turkish and Bahraini Entrepreneurs.
sought to tackle key challenges to stimulate entrepreneurship in Salalah. ITPO Bahrain delivered a workshop entitled Secrets” covering practices towards concept creation, branding, and marketing strategy to 100 entrepreneurs. Creative Business Cup (CBC): MENA Region 15 to 16 November 2017 Copenhagen, Denmark Investing in a Safe Environment 4 December 2017 Manama, Bahrain Under the patronage of HE Lt-General Shaikh Rashid binAbdullah Al Khalifa, Bahraini Interior Minister,the AntiEconomic Crime Directorate, the AICEI and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) organized a conference on “Investing in a Safe Environment” with the participation of 300Bahraini entrepreneurs.The conference addressed issues related to electronic fraud and recent financial crimes.In addition to presenting the 2030 Vision on investing in a safe environment, the conference launched a dedicated hotline to give advice to entrepreneurs on economic crimes at the Ministry of Interior in Bahrain. AICEI has been a co-organizer of the CBC 2017 World Finals that took place in Denmark, and has agreed with CBC to be the main focal point for “Branding and Marketing best the MENA region and will be organizing in Bahrain the MENA CBC Finals ending September 2018 which will be themed achieving SDGs through innovation and creativity. AICEI will be in charge of promoting the CBC event in all MENA countries on the national level and then the top 25 semi-finalists will be attending a boot camp in Bahrain; then followed by the finals to identify the top three winners from the MENA Region and who will participate in the World finals that are to be held in Denmark ending November 2018. 6
2nd International Businesswomen’s Forum and B2B Exhibition: Women in the engineering field 12 to 15 November 2017 Bahrain Under the patronage of HRH Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of His Majesty the King and President of the Supreme Council for Women, the Bahrain Businesswomen Society with the support of ITPO Bahrain organized the 2nd International Businesswomen’s Forum and Exhibition. Under the theme “Female Engineers in the Business World”, the event celebrated women in the engineering field and highlighted the contribution of Bahraini female engineers economy.HRH underlined to the national Princess Sabeeka the importance of the Forum in bringing forward Bahrain’s experience in women’s economic empowerment, she also pointed out that the Bahraini model has a pioneering international status as the United Nations adopted her award in women’s empowerment at international level. The Green Industrial Development Program 3-7 December 2017 Bahrain The Green Program Industrial Development "Towards Economy" was launched a Circular the at 7 the The programme aimed to disseminate knowledge on green industry and its role in sustainable Among discussed others, the detoxification, energy waste removal, efficiency, renewable energy, emission control, waste management, pollution control and circular economics. It also addressed key environmental trends and industry-related issues, in addition to introducing modern tools policies dealing industry requirements. and with the green development. workshop University of Bahrain with the participation of researchers and experts from 12 countries. It was organized by the UNIDO Capacity Development Institute, ITPO Bahrain, the University of Bahrain, the Supreme Council Bahrain for the Environment, the Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies, and AICEI.
1 Publizr