Bahrain
Bahrain and Iran are a step closer to signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
The US has emerged as the main beneficiary of the free trade agreement with Bahrain as the value of US exports to Bahrain amounted to $529 million during August 2006 to July 2007, up 28 per cent compared to the corresponding period a year earlier, a leading parliamentarian and economist said.
Bahrain human rights activists will raise issues related to "unconstitutional" constituency boundaries at a key meeting with the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. They are joining another group of activists from GCC states, who will meet officials from the European Union Commission and European Parliament in Brussels. The GCC group will highlight their reservations on their governments’ approach to various human rights issues ahead of the signing of a Gulf-EU Free trade agreement.
US officials are engaged in "informal" talks with several GCC countries on possibly concluding a Middle East Free Trade Agreement (Mefta) by 2014, it was revealed yesterday.
The US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has proven to be beneficial to the American side. The deal came into effect at the start of August 2006. Available statistics indicate that American exports have increased a hefty 28 per cent during the first year of FTA’s implementation. Bahrain’s exports dropped by 10 per cent in the same period.
Working women in Bahrain are facing many challenges and female activists predict more hardship to come in their way after the full implementation of the Free Trade Agreement between Bahrain and the United States.
A parliamentarian committee in Bahrain has called for the reopening of the Israel boycott office. Manama shut down the office in 2005 as part of the requirements by the US Congress before it ratified a free trade agreement with Bahrain
Bahrain yesterday said it was a “shame” to allow agricultural issues to upstage the WTO negotiations, while Iran held that the increasing free trade pacts have undermined inter-regional dialogues and called for a regional economic and security council.
The US Ambassador William T Monroe and the Minister of Industry and Commerce Dr Hassan Abdulla Fakhro will lead the Bahraini team at the Middle East Free Trade Area (MEFTA) Trade and Investment Conference in London on March 29.
The backers of the $1.6bn Bahrain Investment Wharf (BIW) project are using the Kingdom’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States to try and entice major firms from the economic powerhouses of China and India to set up shop in Bahrain.
Bahrain and Pakistan have vowed to step up negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which could be signed before the end of the year.
Bahrain has banned strikes and worker demonstrations in most business sectors, a month after labour law reforms banning the sacking of strikers encouraged a wave of trade union activity in the Gulf island state.
Bahrain businesses trading with the US may still be paying duty on customs-free products because they haven’t amended their paperwork. Bahrain Export Development Society (BEDS) chairman Dr Yousef Mashal said 96 per cent of Bahrain’s industrial and agricultural products now received immediate duty-free access to the US markets because of the Bahrain-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA), but some traders were missing out.
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Bahrain and the US has been operational since August 1, and on September 19, the US Congress approved the FTA with Oman, which will come into effect soon. The media coverage of the two deals in the region have been limited to official announcements without pointing out the serious dangers these FTAs pose to the GCC customs union.
US Ambassador William Monroe yesterday announced the inauguration of a Bahraini-US Business Council in Washington on Thursday under the patronage of Bahraini Ambassador Nasser Al Balooshi.
The garments industry may not see the benefits of the new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US until early next year, said an industry leader.
The Bahrain-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Implementation Committee yesterday held its first meeting since the international trade agreement was ratified on August 1.
Speaking to members of the United States Trade Representatives (USTR) in Washington last month, I learned that Congress supported the FTA with Bahrain partly because it posed no threat to American farm industry.
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Bahrain and the US comes into force today.
HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, on Friday, gave his royal orders to begin implementing the Bahrain US FTA as from August 1, 2006.
