Manama: The eGovernment Authority (eGA) hosted the Japan Information Technology Service Industry Association (JISA) delegation, as part of their visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain to be briefed on Bahrain’s advanced expertise in eGovernment.
The visit is organized by the Economic Development Board of Bahrain (EDB) and Bahrain-Japan Friendship Society. The delegation was received and welcomed by eGA’s Vice Chief Executive Officer Dr. Zakareya Ahmed AlKhaja and the authority’s managing directors.
At the beginning of the meeting, Al Khaja highlighted that such visits are an opportunity for Bahrain to share and exchange the authority’s expertise with Japan, and promote mutual exchange along with the experience in the field of information and communication technology, celebrating together the fast developing Bahrain-Japan economic relationships.
He also added that the deep-rooted bilateral relationship between Bahrain and Japan has been leveraged to a new momentum following the historic visits of His Majesty the King in 2012 and the Crown Prince’s last year’s visit to Japan.
The Vice CEO added this visit comes at a time when Bahrain has shortly gained a global recognition as the leader of eGovernment in the Arab region and Middle East- thanks to the leadership keenness to strengthening Bahrain’s business environment.
“We believe the potentials and opportunities of development and investments are great, particularly within the ICT sector. We are fully confident that this tour will shed lights on eGovernment Strategy, major ICT projects and eServices available for businesses and individuals through multiple channels,” Dr. AlKhaja added.
Ahmed AlSawafiri, Assistant Director of Policies Strategies and Business Processes re-engineering made a presentation through which the representatives of JISA were briefed about the mechanisms adopted to enhance performance, effectiveness of work and the delivery of eServices so as to ensure that the eGovernment strategy is achieved and finalized by 2016. Also, the delegation was briefed on the progress made by Bahrain in the delivery of eServices – attaining the level of developed countries in this field.
AlSawafiri provided in-depth insights over a number of key projects carried out by eGA as part of its National Strategy such as the revamped national portal along with the (eKey) system seen as the first government system to provide a unified electronic identification and enable each citizen to use a single authentication profile and login to access government eservices.
Ahmed AlSawafiri, Assistant Director of Policies Strategies and Business Processes Re-Engineering shed light on the Business Licensing Integrated System (BLIS) through which business registry will be handled as a one-stop service to set up businesses in the Kingdom of Bahrain, in conjunction with all relevant government entities in relation to the commercial licenses.
It is worth-mentioning that the visit of representatives of Japan Information Technology Service Industry Association (JISA) to the Kingdom of Bahrain comes as part of a Japanese business delegation that has held meetings with several figures and the relevant business stakeholders.