Bahrain Bangladesh Friendship Forum (BBFF) launched

Bahrain, 27 June 2007

 The first meeting of founding Members decided to establish a Bahrain-Bangladesh Friendship Forum last evening. The meeting was held over a dinner at Versailles Restaurant in Hotel Regency Intercontinental with the participation of a number of business leaders, academics and other eminent persons of Bahrain, as well as some eminent Bangladesh expatriate nationals.

As a Track-II i.e. civil society initiative, the Forum would seek to strengthen relations between the peoples of Bahrain and Bangladesh by taking or supporting initiatives aimed at promoting exchanges in the areas of trade, investment, education, human resources development, research and development, technical and technological expertise, culture, tourism and sports etc.

The Forum would make efforts to promote the image and appreciation of the culture, heritage and potential of Bangladesh in Bahrain and of Bahrain in Bangladesh.

The Forum would, in particular, foster people-to-people contact by supporting, organising, or participating in various events in both countries.

The Forum would also support exchange of best practices in the areas of mutual interest like social development, resource management, human resource development, institution building etc.

As a special social mission, the Forum would make efforts at contributing to the welfare of the Bangladesh community in Bahrain.

The Bureau of the Forum will comprise President, two Vice Presidents, General Secretary, Treasurer and six Executive Members. The founding Members decided to apply for registration of the BBFF with the Ministry of Social Development by early next week. The Forum will come into being once it is registered with the authorities and its registration is notified in the official gazette. After the notification is published, the Forum will hold the General Assembly to elect the Bureau.

The meeting of the Founding Members were attended among others by Mr. Abdulla Mohamed Juma, Shaikh Ebrahim Rashid Al Khalifa, Mr. Jasim Abdul Rahman Al Zayani, Mr. Adel Fakhro, Mr. Hussain M. Tadayon, H.E. Dr. Dhafer A. Alumran, Mr. A. Jaleel A. Karim Al-Ansari, Mr. Jawad Yousif Al Hawaj, Dr. Mansoor M. Al Arayedh, Mr. Fuad Dawood Nonoo, Professor Yousif Abdul Ghaffar, Mr. Ali Hamad Abul, Dr. Fakhria Shaban Diari, Madame Nabeela Al Alawi and Ms. Marwa Abdulnabi Abdulla Alsho’ala.

Among the eminent Bangladeshi nationals, present were Mr. Kamal M. Quadir, Head of Structured Finance, Capital Management House, Mr. Mohammed A. Muiz Chowdhury, Executive Director, Financial Management Group, Arcapita, Dr. Iqbal Shahriar, KIMS Bahrain Medical Centre and Mr. Md. Ghulam Rabbani, Authorized Consultant, NEXUS, Nexus Financial Service.

The Establishment of the proposed BBFF will add a new dimension to the Bahrain-Bangladesh relationship. It is expected to contribute to enhancing beneficial exchanges and relationship between Bahrain and Bangladesh.