Bahrain outline milestones after "Corona"
The International Consulting Company, "Proact", organized the "Economic Recovery" Forum in Bahrain under the slogan "After the pandemic", which is held remotely through direct broadcast with the participation of a group of economists and business owners who addressed the features of the recovery phase after the elimination of the Corona virus pandemic in the sectors of the economy Banking, health and nutrition, tourism, hotels, technology, communications and media. During the forum, speakers also reviewed investment opportunities and methods of facing challenges and encouraging innovation required for the next stage.
Dr. Khaled Boumtia, Secretary-General of the Forum and General Manager of Proact International Consulting, welcomed at the beginning of the forum the specialized participants who review, according to their fields, the variables imposed by the pandemic and how to invest them and overcome their consequences, especially in the sectors most affected.
Businessman Khalid Al-Amin said in his intervention that the Bahraini economy has sufficient flexibility to overcome the repercussions of the Corona crisis, expressing his belief that the economy will recover quickly as soon as the precautionary measures imposed by the outbreak of the Corona pandemic are eased, and he indicated that the integration of the Bahraini economy and its openness to the economies of the region and the world makes this acceleration The recovery is also linked to actions other countries are taking.
Speaking during the forum, the spokesman and journalist Ibrahim Al-Tamimi said that the Coronavirus represents an opportunity also to adopt a new methodology in terms of work, distance education, social communication, and others, as the plight of Corona once again demonstrated the cohesion and solidarity of Bahraini society, indicating that the post-Corona economic recovery is linked To a large extent, this virus has expired, disappeared, or eradicated.
Dr. Faisal Abdel-Latif Al-Nasser, head of the Home Health Care Center - one of the speakers at the forum - confirmed that the epidemic that afflicted the world recently and spread in a very short period not exceeding four months has managed to change many concepts of people and governments, foremost among which are health services. He added, "Some of those changes that have occurred impose priorities and establish a different manner in which health services are expected to be in the post-pandemic era, and this necessarily reflects on the horizons and opportunities for investment in the health field."
For his part, Moanis Al-Mardi, editor-in-chief of the Bahraini newspaper, Al-Bilad, said: “There is an optimistic view of the speed of the economy’s recovery after the pandemic, but unfortunately most of the economic forecasts say otherwise. We need to understand the effects of the economic downturn that will last for decades, and we will see on its impact a change in the economic terrain. ”
In a working paper presented during the forum, Dr. Lulwa Bodlama, Advisor for Media Affairs at the Ministry of Information, addressed the differences in public confidence in the official media before the Corona pandemic and during this pandemic, and the prospective role of official and informal media in crises, while Dr. Ali Al-Mawlani, head of the Bahrain Economists Association, answered the question about The impact of the financial and economic package announced by the state on the Bahraini economy.
Managing consultant Muhammad Issa, who is one of the speakers, said: “After this crisis, I hope that the convictions of boards of directors and executives will change regarding investment in information systems and their infrastructure in order to develop and continue the business of their companies, whether in intensity or in prosperity. It turns out that the companies that previously invested in this field were able to increase their sales, market share and strengthen their reputation, unlike companies that viewed information systems as unnecessary expenses and had no rewarding financial returns, and this is something I will highlight in the paper that I present at the forum » .
Nabil Al Mahmoud reviewed a paper titled “The Impact of Corona Crisis on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises” that dealt with the results of a survey conducted in Bahrain on the impact of the Corona crisis on these facilities to measure the impact of MSMEs during the first quarter of 2020 from this crisis and measure the readiness of these facilities for such crises, And knowing their priorities in terms of the support provided and expected from the concerned authorities, and the paper proposed solutions to reduce the repercussions of this pandemic on this category of facilities.
In the technology and communications sector, Wafiq Omran, the information and communication technology advisor, the National Health and Health Services Regulatory Authority (NHRA), touched on a short overview of the fifth generation communication technology (5G), the Internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, and intelligence. Artificial and machine learning (AI / ML), its role in digital transformation, the most important challenges it faces, and the most important business opportunities and investments, especially after the pandemic has passed.
