The progress of the Expo City project was discussed at a key Bahrain Exhibition and Convention Authority (BECA) meeting yesterday.

The second board meeting for this year was presided by Industry and Commerce Minister and Beca chairman Dr Hassan Fakhro, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

The minister acknowledged the continued valuable support of the leadership and government to the exhibition industry.

The meeting noted the continuous efforts and plans to fast-track the Expo City project including invitations to the private sector and local banks for equity participation as well as seeking funding for Beca's share in the strategic project.

The board reviewed the audited financial statements for last year, which revealed that the authority generated total revenues of BD1.6 million, a 36 per cent increase over 2011.

This was achieved by organising and facilitating 43 exhibitions, 23 small events and functions and 16 conferences.

The authority was able to enhance its source of income by maximising the utilisation of the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre.

BECA chief executive Hassan Jaffar Mohamed presented the estimated operational performance report for the first half of 2013 whereby, at the early part of the year basis, events booking, total gross space and total days of booked events are expected to exceed the 2012 figures by 11per cent and 39 per cent respectively.

The board expressed confidence that 2013 performance will be positive.-TradeArabia News Service