February 09, 2010 - Twenty million people have visited Bahrain e-government portal since the national e-government strategy was launched. A new set featuring 13 new e-services will be added to www.bahrain.bh next month, bringing the overall number of services to 124. The update was revealed as Deputy Premier Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa chaired the 27th meeting of the High National Committee for Information and Telecommunications at Gudaibiya Palace. A total of 146,038 transactions worth BD9.8m have also been processed via the portal. According to the updated statistics, 31 mobile phone e-services have been launched. Ten more are expected to be launched in the course of next week. E-services are also available at four postal centers located in Sanad, the Muharraq Shopping Mall, Budaiya and the Capital Mall. Preparations are in full swing to launch 11 other centers during the first quarter of this year. Five e-kiosks are scheduled to be launched next month, bringing the overall number of such facilities to 23. UN Adviser for e-government Richard Kirby gave a presentation in which he highlighted Bahrain's development in the field according to the UN 2010 report in which the Kingdom ranked 13th in the world, third in Asia and first in the Gulf, Arab and Middle East regions. He also praised the leadership's keenness to advance e-government services. The committee also decided to create a post of Content Manager in Ministries. It also directed all government bodies to use the government e-mail address. The meeting also reviewed latest developments concerning the third edition of the e-Government Distinction Award to be held under the patronage of Shaikh Mohammed. Candidates for the award, including from the public sector, the private sector and the community, can apply from March 1. The winners will be announced during Bahrain's International e-Government Forum next May. The panel discussed preparations to host Cisco Networkers' conference under the patronage of HRH the Crown Prince.

February 05, 2010 - A NEW BD1.5 million park was opened recently at Al Hunainiya valley in Riffa. The Hunainiya Spring development and rehabilitation project was launched by Shaikh Isa bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, son of Southern Governor Shaikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa. Municipalities and Agriculture Minister Dr Juma Al Ka'abi and Her Highness Princess Sabeeka's Office director Shaikha Maram bint Isa Al Khalifa attended. The project covers an area of around 100,000sqm and includes a walkway. The 1,300-metre facility, on Moaskar Road, covers an area of 60,000sqm. It features 250 parking spaces, green areas, children's playground and kiosks selling refreshments.

February 01, 2010 - Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) expects its 2010 profit to be flat from last year as start-up costs for its new Indian unit weigh, its group chief executive said recently. "Our target is again to achieve a triple-digit million profit, that is BD100m if not higher," Peter Kaliaropoulos told a Press conference. Batelco posted a net profit of BD105m ($278.6m) for last year. Mr. Kaliaropoulos added he expected profit to be "roughly at the same level" as last year if the company did not make any acquisition during 2010. He said that shareholders should at least expect the same dividend for 2010 regardless of whether the company will make its planned buy. He said that full-year profit would be burdened by start-up costs of its new Indian subsidiary S Tel that started operations late last year and reached 500,000 subscribers last week. He said that while Batelco's 2009 revenues grew by nine per cent, its net profit remained flat partially because the company booked provisions against a fine it potentially needs to pay to Bahrain's telecoms regulator. The watchdog in November imposed a BD5m fine on Batelco for allegedly not providing competitors sufficient access to a cable linking the Gulf state to the global phone network. Batelco has rejected the allegation and said it would provide additional information to the regulator to avoid the fine. Mr. Kaliaropoulos reiterated Batelco plans to make an acquisition worth up to $2 billion in Africa or Asia. Like other telecoms operators in the Gulf region, Batelco is trying to grow abroad to counter rising competition at home where markets are increasingly being liberalized. The third mobile operator in Bahrain, the local unit of Saudi Telecom Company, is set to start operations later this quarter. "We have to have an acquisition this year," Mr. Kaliaropoulos said. He said Batelco was able to finance a buy worth up to $2bn through raising debt and investing with equity partners. "Our preference is for existing companies with existing clients," he said.

January 29, 2010 - Bahrain is to set up facilities to receive hundreds of thousands of tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the next few years to take care of its future energy needs. Oil and Gas Minister and National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga) chairman Dr Abdulhussain Mirza said two studies have already been done on setting up such facilities in the country and both - by US companies Shell and Hess - have found the project viable. "We have also been told by several gas producing countries they would be extremely interested in exporting gas to Bahrain so we shall ask them to start bidding by the second half of this year," Dr Mirza told the GDN. "Qatar, Russia and Egypt, among others could be the source of the gas, transported in the liquid form and then turned into gas again to power Bahrain's industries and infrastructure. "Gas coming into the country in LNG form is extremely safe and does not require the complicated infrastructure commonly associated with pumping in gas through pipelines." He said the companies bidding for the project could be tendering for the complete package, which will also look after the imports. He said Bahrain's gas production is already set to more than double to 2.7 billion cubic feet per day in the next few years, from the present 1.3bn cubic feet per day, thanks to the agreement that has been entered into with the new company Tatweer, launched in Bahrain a few days ago. "In addition to drilling for oil, they will also contribute to increasing gas production in the country. "This will take care of the demands of Bahrain for the next 15 years. The LNG imports' infrastructure will then be firmly in place and take care of the energy needs then and also act as a back-up." Dr Mirza said one of the world's largest gas drilling companies had started a survey on whether there is gas in Bahrain deeper than the 16,000 feet that has been drilled for the last 78 years. "It believes there is gas at between 15,000 and 16,000 feet and it has begun a survey. If there is, we shall enter into a production agreement with that company and if there is nothing, there would be no cost to Bahrain." The minister said it were the efforts of the political leadership in Bahrain that has made all these developments possible. "There are many more developments in the offing and we shall soon see Bahrain becoming one of the region's leading players in the oil and gas field." mandeep@gdn.com.bh

January 21, 2010 - Tatweer Petroleum, which has taken over all upstream oil activity in Bahrain, will fuel economic growth and improve living standards for Bahrainis, it was revealed yesterday. The company was officially launched by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Economic Development Board chairman at a ceremony at Oil Well No 1 at Jebel Dukhan. The company will directly employ 500 people, of whom 360 will be Bahrainis, but the venture will create up to 2,000 new jobs as it stimulated the economy, Oil and Gas Affairs Minister and National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga) chairman Dr Abdulussain Mirza told more than 300 guests and dignitaries who attended the inauguration. Tatweer Petroleum is a joint venture operating company between Noga, Occidental Petroleum Corporation and Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala) which will spend the next 20 years developing the Bahrain Oil Field. It is expected that it will be able to increase production to 100,000 barrels per day and also develop the country's gas reserves to produce 2.2 billion cubic feet per day, enough to meet the country's total needs. Dr Mirza said the development would help fuel the economy and provide the wealth to continue modernizing the economy under the country's 2030 Vision. "Occidental Petroleum Corporation has been working on developing oilfields successfully in joint ventures across the region for more than 40 years," said chief executive officer Dr Ray R Irani. "In fact, last week we signed an agreement to help develop oilfields in southern Iraq. "We have developed our expertise in this field and are confident we will be able to help the Bahrain economy to grow and create new jobs. "Occidental has a policy of having a high percentage of nationals working on its projects and we are committed to building the capacity of the local workforce through training and technology," he said. "I have wanted to work in Bahrain for a long time and I would like to thank Dr Mirza who has been the catalyst behind this project from day one." "We have worked in partnership with Occidental in a number of ventures and we are very pleased to be here in Bahrain working on a field where the development of oil in the Middle East began," said Mubadala Development Company chief executive officer Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak.