’New laws key to FTA’
Gulf Daily News, Bahrain
’New laws key to FTA’
By TARIQ KHONJI
28 February 2006
A FEW pieces of legislation, mainly related to intellectual property rights, need to be passed in Bahrain before its Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US can be implemented, US Ambassador William T Monroe said yesterday.However, this should not prevent both sides from marketing the FTA in full force, he said.
"In order for the FTA to be effective, it should be marketed. We need to get the word out," said Mr Monroe.
He said the embassy’s Commercial Office was assisting businesses in Bahrain to find partners in the US while the Economic Development Board and Bahrain’s Embassy in Washington DC, was also actively promoting it.
"But FTA business isn’t between countries, it’s between companies," he continued.
Mr Monroe said he did not expect the legislative changes that Bahrain needs to make to be an obstacle.
"They are minor changes, mainly to do with intellectual property rights, to bring Bahrain up to the standard of the agreement that it has made," he said.
Mr Monroe was speaking at a Free Trade in the Middle East conference at the Sheraton Hotel yesterday.
The event was attended by US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who is in Bahrain as part of a tour of the Arab World, during which he is also visiting Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
The conference, aimed to highlight the significance of the FTA, was co-organised by the US-Middle East Free Trade Coalition, the US Commerce Department and the Bahrain FTA Implementation Committee.
Mr Monroe said Bahrain should refrain from having unrealistic expectations.
"Jordan’s exports to the US jumped 153 per cent following the signing of the FTA," he said.
"But that was due to the specific situation in Jordan and it doesn’t necessarily mean that this will happen in Bahrain.
"However, past experience has shown that FTAs result in a solid increase in exports."
Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Hassan Fakhro said the FTA would be a huge benefit to both sides.
Dr Fakhro, who met with Mr Gutierrez on the sidelines of the conference, said his ministry was rewriting its proposed commercial companies law to be in line with the FTA.
"This shows how seriously we are taking this agreement," he said.
EDB chief executive officer Shaikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa said Bahrain’s ongoing labour and employment reforms will greatly compliment the FTA’s goals.
"They are intended to create a skilled workforce suitable for a hi-tech knowledge-based economy and the intellectual property laws that will further enhance Bahrain’s reputation as a free economy that respects the talent and innovation of the human," he said.
Shaikh Mohammed said that this is why education and training reforms were such a priority.
He said Bahrain, as a small country, has no choice but to become a part of an increasingly globalised world economy.
Bahrain, said Shaikh Mohammed, is working on stimulating the private sector to take on a leading role in the economy by cutting red tape.
"We are doing this by addressing the obstacles to growth in the private sector with specific initiatives to address them," he said.
Shaikh Mohammed said the role of the government would change from being an operator to a regulator.
"The government has already privatised a good number of sectors, with more on the way," he said.
"The government will focus its policy on regulation and leave the operations in the private sector.
"In power generation, for example, 75 per cent of the sector is in the hands of private investors."
Bahrain’s Ambassador to the US Dr Nasser Al Belooshi said the FTA is helping to spur more than just business-related changes in Bahrain.
"It is helping to bring about legislative, economic and political changes along the way," he said.
Dr Al Belooshi said these were aiding Bahrain in its ongoing democratic reforms.
Bahrain American Chamber of Commerce (Bahrain AmCham) president Khalid Al Zayani invited companies to become members of the organisation, saying that this was the best way for them to take advantage of the FTA.
"We have the largest network of trade organisations in the US and we can put you in touch with those you want to contact immediately," he said.
Mr Al Zayani said while Bahrain AmCham currently has 33 members, it hopes to increase that number will increase five times over the next four years.
