The National Oil & Gas Authority (Noga) has announced a key sponsorship deal with Bahrain-based Hilal Conferences & Exhibitions (HCE) as part of a strategic energy partnership for the Gulf Industry Fair (GIF) to be held in the Kingdom next year.

The GIF 2012 (www.gulfindustryfair.com), the Northern Gulf’s premier business-to-business (B2B) industrial exhibition, will run from February 14 to 16 at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Dr Abdul Hussain Bin Ali Mirza, Minister of Energy, chairman of Noga affirmed the strategic partnership on behalf of Noga and the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) with Ronnie Middleton, managing director of Al Hilal Group, the parent company of fair organisers HCE.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Noga, in association with Bapco, has provided top level support to the Fair.

“Noga in co-ordination with Bapco and other companies under our organizational umbrella are pleased to support the Gulf Industry Fair to help spearhead and showcase a range of strategic initiatives and projects,' said Dr Mirza.

'These projects and investments promise to deliver long-term and sustainable economic growth for the Kingdom and its people in line with the objectives of the government’s 2030 Economic Vision,' he stated.

'Energy is a key driver of national development and industrialization and Bapco plays a major role in Bahrain’s downstream industrial sector,' Dr Mirza added.

Jubran Abdulrahman, managing director of HCE said the strategic sponsorship agreement not only brings prestige to Gulf Industry Fair but will help reinforce and showcase to a wide audience Bahrain’s considerable industrial credentials.

'Through the generous support of leading organisations in the Kingdom such as Noga and Bapco, we have the impetus to deliver a very successful show in keeping with the government’s economic vision,' he added.

GIF 2012 will feature local, regional and international enterprises representing the aluminium, machine tools, industrial equipment, manufacturing, automation, steel, energy, logistics, ports & free trade zones and vocational training sectors.-TradeArabia News Service