ABAHSAIN Fiberglass and CPIC China have signed a new joint venture agreement that will entail a total investment of $200 million and help produce 200,000 tonnes of fibreglass.

Abahsain Fiberglass, owned by the Abahsain family from Al Khobar, was one of the first companies to start building a manufacturing plant at the Bahrain International Investment Park (BIIP) in 2007 and it commenced manufacturing operations in 2009. Today the company is a prominent brand at the park and produces more than 30,000 tonnes of finished product annually, employing more than 200 people.

CPIC is one of the largest manufacturers of fibreglass in China in addition to being recognised as a global player in the industry. It produces 600,000 tonnes of finished product globally per year and employs 6,000 people.

Bahrain’s Minister for Industry and Commerce Dr Hassan Fakhro welcomed the new joint venture saying that by combining their strengths, the new partnership would  become the leading player in the regional fibreglass market.

The minister has taken a very close interest in this project since its inception and in 2012 he visited the CPIC headquarters in Chongqing China to encourage the partners to move forward with the project. Industrial investment at the park has reached BD547 million ($1.44 billion), reports our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej.

PARK DRAWS MANY

A total of 52 companies are operating in the park with investment of BD187 million, while 46 companies are set to start operations with a total investment of BD360 million. Occupancy rates in the park reached 82 per cent and the government is carefully reviewing the projects before granting them licences, Dr Fakhro said.

He also unveiled plans to develop new industrial zones, some of which will be announced soon.

Dr Fakhro was present at the signing of the Abahsain-CPIC joint venture. More than 150 key industrialists from Bahrain, China and Saudi Arabia were present at the event. The minister described the recent visit by King Hamad to China as “very successful” and expressed his confidence that as a result of the visit, Bahrain would become a hub for future Chinese investments in the Middle East.