Tourism Dept gets a fillip

Minister of Industry, Commerce & Tourism Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani yesterday made a special mention about the accomplishment of tourism department, which achieved many milestones, including declaration of Manama as the capital of Gulf Tourism 2016.

Sixty-six various events were held at the Bahrain International Exhibiton & Convention Centre in 2015, in line with the Kingdom’s stated focus on promoting it as exhibition tourism destination.  About 1.8 square metres of total leased space was used for events in 2015 and hosted 475,000 visitors.

The Small & Craft Industries Directorate launched SME toolkit project, continued organising industrial technical assistance programme for small and medium enterprises, and also launched seal of excellence project for Bahraini handicrafts. The Industrial Development Directorate organised ‘Invest in Bahrain 2015’ forum and exhibition. It also prepared industrial studies regarding knowledge-based industries, waste management in the GCC, and water security in the Kingdom from an economic standpoint.

The Industrial Projects Directorate issued 185 initial approvals, 95 industrial licences, 99 registration certificate and distributed BD39,134, 057 as subsidy to 116 factories.

The Industrial Areas Directorate counted the US$90 million expansion of Mondelez, study of industrial areas and updation of status of 770 companies in eight industrial areas among its achievements in 2015.

The Domestic Trade Directorate mentioned the launch of BLIS system through which 4,636 new CRs were issued in 2015 and the issuance of the Commercial Registration Law And Commercial Companies Law among its achievements.