Business & Finance Club - Manama : Bahrain General Organisation of Sea Ports (GOP) said it has signed an agreement to host the 'Trans Middle East Exhibition and Conference', a key shipping and sports event, from November 20 to 21 in 2012.

Trans Middle East, run by specialised Malaysian-based event management company Transport Events, is the largest annual Container Ports and Terminals Operations business- to -business trade event in the Middle East and one of the largest trade events of its kind throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Bahrain is hosting the event for the second time following its successful show last November, said a GOP statement.

With this announcement, Bahrain has a head-start for this year' s 'World Maritime Day' celebrations, it added.

The signing took place on the sidelines of the 5th Southern Asia Ports Logistics and Shipping 2010 conference in Mumbai, India, the sister event of the Middle East version.

The company had an exhibition booth at the Indian event in order to reach out to the Indian ports and logistics communities, said a GOP statement.

This signing signifies GOP’s active efforts to attract meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) to Bahrain as part of its five-year strategy, remarked Maysoon Sabkar, director of Marketing and Communications, GOP.

This is the first public industry event that GOP has succeeded in attracting to Bahrain as a repeat event, following the hosting of the 5th Trans Middle East in November last year.

Hassan Al Majed, director general of GOP highlighted the significance of this opportunity for the development of Bahrain in the shipping and maritime industry.

“As part of our 5-year plan, we are striving to establish Bahrain as a centre for maritime activity.  This development is targeting several different aspects of the industry, from business and trade volume, to services and facilities, as well as thought leadership and industry intelligence,' he remarked.

'After the successful 5th Trans Middle East event held last year, we are looking forward to a bigger event in 2012, and will increase our efforts to secure strong participation from local, regional and international industry executives.'

'This will in turn position Bahrain as a leader within the region’s maritime sector in line with Economic Vision 2030,' he added. 

The conference will witness 30 business leaders review and analyze the latest global transportation and logistics issues, said the GOP statement.

It is expected to attract 300 senior executive delegates from more than 30 countries worldwide along with 200 exhibition trade visitors from Europe, the Middle East and Africa including some of the leading shipping lines, shippers, cargo owners, importers and exporters, freight forwarders, logistics companies, ports, terminal operating companies, port equipment and services suppliers.