Bahrain is the gateway to aerospace business in the largest market in the Middle East and the country's transport minister was at the Paris air show to encourage exhibitors to accept its open invitation.

"Bahrain is an open and welcoming country," says Kamal bin Ahmed Mohamed, minister of transport and acting chief executive of Bahrain's Economic Development Board.

Mohamed came to Paris to promote Bahrain's air show - the first of next year's shows - takes place on 16-18 January.

"There is a lot happening right now," Mohamed says. "We are reviewing the fleet for Gulf Air. We are upgrading our airport with new terminals, and there are lots of other infrastructure changes, too."

But the big advantage for Bahrain is its close proximity to Saudi Arabia, the largest market in the Middle East. Just 20 minutes across a causeway, some 5 million visitors each year come from the kingdom to Bahrain. "When it comes to the air show, we have visitors from the Saudi companies as well as from the other GCC [Gulf Co-operation Council] states," he says. "The Bahrain show is very different from big events like Paris. It is built around networking. We get the top VVIPs there and there are opportunities for meeting. "

With a stable and growing economy, low unemployment and a well-educated workforce, Bahrain is also arguing its case to be a regional centre for international companies. "Once people have visited Bahrain, they want to stay," Mohamed says.

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Source: Flight Daily News

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