The forthcoming 3rd Annual Middle East Risk Management Forum in Bahrain will allow progressive dialogue to help the region meet the challenge of the future, Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), said today.
The forum, taking place at the Movenpick Hotel in Manama from 1-3 March and billed as the biggest Risk event in the Middle East, brings together top banks and regulators from the region including the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB). Khalid Hamad, executive director of banking supervision at the CBB – the only single regulator in the Middle East and widely acknowledged as the best in the region – will present the ‘Corporate Governance Code of the Kingdom of Bahrain’ and take part in a panel discussion on the evolving regulatory landscape. It is an opportunity to share the legal and regulatory measures which have been central to creating an environment conducive for doing business in and from Bahrain; they are now central to achieving the ambitions of Vision 2030 and the National Economic Strategy, said Shaikh Mohammed.
“The 3rd Annual Middle East Risk Management Forum in Manama will be an opportunity to collaborate on the importance of ethical values which, in a ‘re-set’ world, are vital to ensure an environment where international business has opportunities for sustainable growth. In Bahrain, our strong track record and long term strategy of economic diversification is backed by the CBB and the highest and most transparent regulatory and supervisory standards. These values have formed the basis for the steady growth of our own financial sector over the past 40 years.”
Last month, in an interview from the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, CBB Governor Rasheed Al-Maraj told CNBC Europe’s “Closing Bell” that efforts to make Bahrain’s economy more business friendly had attracted growing interest from the Gulf and beyond.
“We try to make our economy and our country more business friendly by putting in the right legal and regulatory (measures) to ensure that there is an environment conducive for doing business. Over the years, we have seen growing interest not only from the region itself but also from outside looking into Bahrain, because we have been doing this for the last four decades.”
As the most established financial centre in the region, Bahrain leads in a broad cross-section of financial activities from fund management to Islamic finance. The Kingdom also has a mature service infrastructure and skilled talent base, both of which have grown up around the finance sector which today represents 27 percent of the economy – the most diversified in the Gulf.
The EDB has overall responsibility for formulating and overseeing the economic strategy of the Kingdom and creating the right climate to attract foreign investment. Vision 2030 is designed to drive the private sector as an engine of growth, support further diversification of the economy, and ultimately elevate national living standards by creating greater opportunities for Bahrainis.
