A delegation from the General Organisation of Seaports (GOP) headed by chairman Shaikh Daij bin Salman Al Khalifa is in Germany on an official visit until Saturday.
The delegation will attend the 13th German Arab Business Forum in Berlin, as well as a key business seminar in the city of Nuremberg.
As part of efforts to boost logistics co-operation in important international markets, the delegation will promote the kingdom’s logistics and maritime credentials and explore opportunities and co-operation between the two countries in maritime and logistics industries.
Shaikh Daij will address the forum’s opening ceremony, while a representative from Bahrain Logistics Zone will showcase the kingdom as a multi-modal logistics centre for the European market. The highlight of the trip will be the visit to Nuremberg where the delegation will participate in a logistics seminar focusing on investment opportunities in Bahrain’s logistics sector.
During this visit, which comes at the invitation of the Deputy Mayor of the City of Nuremberg Dr Ronald Fleck, Shaikh Daij will meet with logistics sector business leaders including Harald Leupold, general manager of NurembergFreightVillage, to discuss ways of developing mutual co-operation for strengthening logistics relations and promoting bilateral relations in areas of mutual interest.
Shaikh Daij said: “Bahrain and Germany have historically enjoyed excellent relations on political social and cultural levels and over the years the countries have experienced remarkable growth in trade, investments and financial exchanges. With strong credentials as the kingdom’s state-of-the-art Khalifa Bin Salman Port and Bahrain Logistics Zone – representing a world-class logistics hub at the centre of the Gulf region – we are confident that this visit will help strengthen economic, trade and investment relations in the maritime and related industries between the two countries specfically in the ports, maritime and logistics sectors.”
The trip comes just days after His Majesty King Hamad asserted Bahrain’s eagerness to strengthen co-operation with Germany during a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In Berlin, a lunch is being hosted by the Near and Middle East Association’s honorary chairman and former German chancellor Gerhard Schroder, who visited the kingdom in March.
Since the German-Arab Business Forum first took place in 1998, the total trade volume between the two countries has tripled from 14 billion euros to 42 billion euros in 2008. This impressive growth enhanced climate of mutual trust between the Arab and German partners.
Bahrain’s bilateral trade with Germany has been growing steadily over the years. Its total volume of bilateral trade with European Union countries amounted close to 2.5 billion euros in 2008 with the kingdom’s imports accounting for around 1.5 billion euros.
Bahrain’s non-oil trade with EU amounted to around 1.4 billion euros in 2007 and Germany accounted for around 20 per cent of this figure.
The delegation’s visit to Germany comes as part of GOP’s efforts to actively promote Bahrain’s maritime and logistics industries to facilitate investments into the kingdom.
