Govt to focus on SMEs in 2018: Alzayani

Manama : The Small and Medium (SME) sector will be a focus area for government in the coming year, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Zayed R. Alzayani said yesterday.

“Small and medium enterprises will be a focus area of ours in the next year. It will be a core area. We just concluded its national strategy, which is now ready to be presented to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Economic Development Board. We believe that there is true potential for growth in that area. It is the future for Bahraini businessmen and women and young entrepreneurs, “ Alzayani told reporters during a press conference yesterday at the Ministry’s premises in Bahrain Financial Harbour

A national strategy to promote and develop the SME sector has been designed by the Ministry, the Minister said. 

“Tourism also has a lot of potential for growth, next year we want to focus on water sports and better utilizing of our coastlines. We want to launch more projects in the beaches,” he said.

“We also concluded the design for the new convention and exhibition center at Sakhir. Hopefully we will be launching the tender in the first part of next year. We look forward to completing the construction in 24 months. It will be a state-of-the-art facility, much bigger than the current facility. We feel that there is a huge potential to attract international exhibitions and conventions to Bahrain,” he said, adding,  “I am optimistic that 2018 will see growth. A good indicator is that we have not witnessed a rise in unemployment and we have not witnessed a rise in inflation.” According to data released by the ministry yesterday, 36 cases of businesses performing an activity without license or providing incorrect document to the government was transferred to Public Prosecution and Economic crimes. 7639 trademarks and 396 patents. The consumer protection department received 198 complaints for health and beauty products, 263 complaints on vehicles, 635 on electronic devices, 149 on furniture and 160 on food. In terms of tourism, Bahrain welcomed 8.7 million visitors, marking a growth of 12.8 per cent. 919 million BD was spent by the visitors.