The UN has chosen Bahrain to be a centre for the International Academy for training.

The first workshop of the centre was 'Enhancing the Quality of Industrial policies', which was held yesterday (March 1) under the patronage of Industry and Commerce Minister Zayed Al Zayani, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

The event was organised by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido) in co-operation with the German Agency for International Co-operation in the presence of German Ambassador Sabine Taufmann.

The minister expressed the government's appreciation for this initiative stating that 'Manama was recently declared by Unido and the Arab Thought Forum as the 'First Arab Capital for Entrepreneurship and Innovation' in recognition of our pioneering work. Enterprise building, incubation, linking to finance and market are the pillars that support our entrepreneurial ecosystem and industrial policies.'

The minister added that 'the industrial policies must aim to create high productivity workplaces from the inception stage of any enterprise as transformation of low productivity workplaces into high productive workplaces subsequently is often more difficult and cost intensive'.

Royal University for Women president Mazen Juma appreciated the Unido initiative to choose the kingdom as the centre and the university to launch it.

Taufmann confirmed the keenness of Germany to support development and training projects led by specialised international organisations.

Unido head of investment office Dr Hashim Hussein also delivered a speech on the occasion. - TradeArabia News Service