TradeArabia, the Middle East's leading business news and information portal, today won a major award at the Bahrain eContent Awards 2009.

The portal, a part of Al Hilal Group, was selected for the award in the eMedia category.

Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology (SCICT), presented the awards at a ceremony in the Sheraton Hotel.

The event, organized by the eGovernment Authority (eGA) in Bahrain, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC), the Bahrain Internet Society (BIS), and organizations from the private sector,  was attended by several ministers, shura council and parliament members, diplomats, businessmen, and other VIPs.

Awards were presented in 10 categories to 24 winners and six special mention entries.

The event comes as part of the national efforts to encourage innovation in the field of eContent, as well as serving as the official means through which local eContent works to qualify for the World Summit Awards (WSA).

Shaikh Mohammed pointed to the importance of fostering eContent as it helps develop Bahrain’s capabilities in technological fields, and called for more initiatives which facilitate eContent innovations and build eContent in the Kingdom.

He said the ICT field is advancing at an ever-increased pace across the globe, thus affording everyone the opportunity to take advantage of this trend and achieve more growth and progress in all fields and aspects of life.
 
The Government of Bahrain, through its national ICT strategy, is always striving to make the most of modern technologies, he said. 'The fruits of these efforts can be clearly be seen in the superior governmental services offered to citizens, residents, and businesses, thus helping Bahrain become a hub of investment, finance, and human capital.'

Shailh Mohammed commended the eGA, MoICT, and BIS for their efforts in encouraging local eContent entrepreneurship, and their unwavering commitment to make this competition the best it can possibly be, pointing to the large number of participants as irrefutable evidence to the event’s respected position and its pioneering role in supporting and stimulating various technological sectors in Bahrain.

Shaikh Ahmed bin Atiyatallah Al Khalifa, Minister for Cabinet Affairs, said that “modern technology now effects every aspect of our daily lives, not the least of which is eContent, one of the most important products of modern IT systems in the international community. eContent works side by side with transportation, communication, education, healthcare, the various products we use, and everything else that effects our lives in general.”

He also emphasised that eContent is no longer a mere technology, but now allows for the creation of an information society managed by individuals capable of digital innovation. Thus, eContent is now more than just a vehicle of information transfer, but a tool which shapes the human mind.

President of the BEA organizing committee, Ahmed Al Hujairy, said the BEA is a national program supported by the Government of Bahrain. “Today’s occasion marks the culmination of months of relentless work and collaboration by the local and international concerned bodies to present the awards to the winners in this national competition,” Al Hujairy said. “The event succeeded in pushing the creativity of Bahraini talents to such impressive levels,” pointing to the strong tradition continued from the competition’s previous two editions, which began in 2005.

WSA chairman, Peter Bruck, said that content is actually the basis for inspiration, not the technology itself, because the springboard to creating exciting information society is the creativity in content.

“International eContent always requires local eContent, and local eContent requires local innovative pro