An Economic Development Board (EDB) delegation from Bahrain led by chief executive Khalid Al Rumaihi has attended the opening of the Munich Transport Logistic Exhibition.

A Bahrain Pavilion is showcasing the kingdom's favourable business environment to German and international investors, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

The delegation, as part of a four-day visit to Germany, attended a lunch hosted by Messe München and also held meetings with key officials and business leaders in Germany.

This included German Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Alexander Dobrindt, Parliamentary state-secretary Dorothee Bär and Bavarian Ministry of Economics, Energy, Media and Technology state-secretary Franz Josef Pschierer.

The Bavarian Ministry of Economics, Energy, Media and Technology and the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain also co-hosted a dinner for the delegates.

This followed a meeting with Pschierer where Al Rumaihi and other members of the Bahrain delegation presented the kingdom's economic story and key competitive advantages to Bavarian companies and ministry officials.

During the visit to Germany, Al Rumaihi will attend a number of meetings with a number of public officials and senior private sector businesses.

“German companies are in Bahrain because they recognise what the kingdom has to offer them, whether it is DHL's Middle East headquarters, using Bahrain's connectivity to service the wider region for the last four decades, BASF's new state-of-the-art production facilities at the Bahrain International Investment Park or regional offices of businesses like Allianz, Hannover Re, RMA, SMS Meer, Siemens, Deutsche Bank and Lufthansa Technik,” Al Rumaihi said.

“They recognise that the GCC market has what all companies are looking for - business to be done and growth to be realised - and that Bahrain offers many of the factors that they need in order to be successful.

“At this week's conference, we are looking forward to introducing a number of potential investors to Bahrain's competitive advantages, whilst at the same time building on our existing relationships in Germany.

“Through continued co-operation we can help companies expand, create quality jobs and opportunities in Bahrain, and grow our local economy,” Al Rumaihi added.

A large number of German businesses have already established operations in Bahrain as a means of accessing the wider Gulf market, which is now worth $1.6 trillion and expected to reach $2 trillion by 2020.

Leading German logistics companies with offices or facilities in Bahrain include: DHL, Schmidt Middle East logistics JLT and Talke Logistics.

Bahrain recently announced an update to its visa policy whereby visitors from Germany can now be issued a multi-entry visa that is valid for three months.

This visa allows a length stay of two weeks per visit.

Additionally, business visitors are able to spend longer periods of time in the kingdom, as the new policy dictates that business visas are issued with a one-month validity and are multi-entry with two weeks of stay per visit. - TradeArabia News Service