Source: cyprus-mail.com
Cyprus and Bahrain step up efforts to expand trade and investment ties
Cyprus and Bahrain are seeking to deepen business and maritime cooperation, with Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Keve) president Stavros Stavrou saying Cyprus could serve as a gateway for Gulf companies seeking to expand into Europe.
Speaking during an interview with the News of Bahrain’s Ashen Tharaka, Stavrou said that the recent visit to Manama had built on January’s high-level contacts and aimed to turn renewed political momentum into practical business cooperation.
“This meeting was a follow-up to the one our president had in January, when we accompanied him with a delegation from the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry,” Stavrou stated.
The Keve president mentioned that he had held a “very open and productive discussion” with the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry on how to take relations between businesses and entrepreneurs in Bahrain and Cyprus “to the next level”.
“Bahrain and Cyprus have a long-standing relationship going back decades, and we have had a lot of business people working here in Bahrain,” Stavrou said.
He explained that interaction had slowed for various reasons but there was now renewed momentum to restore the relationship to the level it had historically reached.
“History has shown that that level is very high, and that is what we are aiming for,” he stated.
The two chambers had agreed to create a working team to identify and prioritise sectors for cooperation, before bringing businesses from the two countries together.
“The main role of chambers is to facilitate the getting together of people, getting them to understand the prospects, and then from there on, they are the experts to decide where synergies exist and how they can build on those synergies,” Stavrou said.
He added that several business leads generated during the January delegation were already being pursued.
“Our goal is to bring our companies together to have a long-lasting relationship, whatever that might be, joint ventures, companies, partnerships, whatever will result in win-win situations for both sides,” he said.
The latest visit also produced a new memorandum of understanding on maritime cooperation between Cyprus and Bahrain.
The agreement was signed in Manama last week during a bilateral meeting between Shipping Deputy Minister Marina Hadjimanolis and Bahrain’s Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications Sheikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.
It covers maritime safety and security, education and training, search and rescue, innovation, and the exchange of expertise and best practices.
The two sides also agreed that the agreement should be followed by practical measures, including joint working groups to turn the MoU into specific areas of cooperation.
Hadjimanolis was accompanied by Stavrou and Cyprus’ ambassador to Bahrain, Andreas Eliades.
Stavrou also mentioned that the meetings with Bahrain’s commerce and transport authorities had placed particular emphasis on shipping, where Cyprus could share expertise as an established maritime hub.
The visit also included a bilateral meeting requested by the Bahraini side with Bahrain’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, during which discussions moved towards commercial opportunities arising from closer maritime ties.
The two sides reviewed bilateral economic and trade relations and identified scope for new partnerships and business opportunities in shipping services.
Hadjimanolis also toured Khalifa Bin Salman Port, accompanied by Bahrain’s Undersecretary for Ports and Maritime Affairs Bader Hood Al Mahmood and other Bahraini officials.
Stavrou also highlighted the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI), a research centre of excellence focused on the sea and oceans.
“We would like to share that knowledge and that research with our friends here in Bahrain, and perhaps extend it with projects and research here in Bahrain where both communities, both countries, will benefit out of it,” he said.
He further stated that the two countries shared a particular interest in the marine environment because “we are both islands, we are both islanders, and the sea is an important part of our infrastructure”.
Potential areas included maritime research, marine conservation, artificial reefs and diving tourism.
He pointed out that CMMI had been funded by the European Union and the Cyprus government for seven years and had developed commercially oriented products rather than operating solely as an academic institute.
Among its products were artificial reefs and autonomous electrically powered boats for rescue and monitoring operations.
“These can all be developed further with the help of our local people, our friends here in Bahrain,” Stavrou said.
He stated several other memorandums of understanding were also being prepared, but stressed that agreements should lead to action.
“Signing of MOUs should not be an objective of its own,” Stavrou said.
“The important thing is to take the next step and act,” he added, warning against agreements that ended up “in drawers” without producing results.
“The hard work starts then, when you identify your opportunities, your projects, you identify your people, you make sure that you have the same chemistry with each other, and then work on delivering results,” he said.
Stavrou linked the renewed engagement with Bahrain to Cyprus’ six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2026 and its efforts to strengthen relations between Europe and the Gulf.
He also mentioned that the GCC forum scheduled for October 6 to 8 would provide another opportunity to advance those efforts.
“What we believe we can do through that is to serve as a hub, Cyprus to serve as a hub of GCC, of Bahrain, of the other countries in GCC, as a hub towards expansion in Europe,” he said.
He argued that Cyprus’ EU membership and longstanding links with the region gave it a strong position to facilitate Gulf trade, investment and business expansion into Europe.
“Europe is a united market, and Cyprus, as one of the member states of the EU and as one with perhaps the most long-standing relationship with this area here, can serve and facilitate this expansion of trade, of business, of investments of GCC companies into Europe,” Stavrou said.
“We have the expertise to do that,” he added.
He pointed out that opportunities extended beyond traditional sectors such as construction and trade to technology, financial services, shipping and other emerging areas.
“The sectors that our people used to know and work in were very limited,” Stavrou stressed.
“Now all these sectors have expanded into a lot of other areas,” he said, adding that the new working team would identify where companies in Cyprus and Bahrain could complement each other and create mutually beneficial partnerships.