Bahrain

<p>The ITC SheTrades and Visa: Gulf Region Project aims to harness the economic potential of women-owned and led businesses in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and promote inclusive growth in the region. The project is implemented under the framework of Visa&apos;s regional grant and education programme, titled She&apos;s Next, with ITC SheTrades spearheading the capacity-building and networking component of the programme.&nbsp;</p><p>The collaboration unites ITC&rsquo;s expertise in supporting the growth of women-owned and led businesses with Visa&apos;s advocacy efforts and networks in the region. The project falls under ITC&apos;s Women and Trade programme which contributes directly to ITC&apos;s impact area on Inclusive Trade and SDGs 5, 8 and 17.</p>

<p>In view of the challenges to the trade of agricultural products in the NENA region, ITC will provide support<strong>&nbsp;to enhance intra-regional trade in selected agricultural value chains by removing obstacles to export, transit and import.</strong></p><p>The main objectives of this initiative are:</p><ul><li>To improve the livelihood of small-scale producers by unleashing new business opportunities through exports to regional markets</li><li>To reduce the cost of agricultural products for populations in NENA countries that are dependent on imports.</li></ul>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Building &quot;Export Bahrain&quot; Project is aiming at the operationalisation of the Bahraini Export Development Centre to become a respected and visible institution that delivers high quality, relevant and impactful services to Bahraini exporters and supports aspiring exporters to internationalize. This will be reached by the realization of 6 outputs: i) <span lang="EN-US">Export Bahrain is equipped with aligned core documents and processes (including templates and guides) to commence operations as a Trade Promotion Organization (TPO): ii) &nbsp;</span>The managerial and operational capacities of Export Bahrain are developed through training and coaching; templates and guides are provided when required; iii) A customized performance management system is in place to support consistent and useful measurement of activities, satisfaction and results, and a long-term sustainability and transition plan is developed; iv) Export Bahrain&rsquo;s trade and market information capacity is strengthened and customized to better support exporting companies; v) <span lang="EN-US">Export Bahrain&rsquo;s competence on trade and market analysis is further enhanced through an advanced capacity building programme and support to identify trade obstacles and remedies; vi)&nbsp;</span>Export Bahrain&rsquo;s capacity to offer export quality management services is built. The main ITC Bahraini partners in the implementation of this project are the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and the Bahraini Labor Fund (Tamkeen).</p>