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New Zealand has friendly relations with Bahrain. It is not a large market. Exports to Bahrain in the year to December 2006 amounted to just over NZ$16 million and comprised primarily dairy products and meat. New Zealand's imports from Bahrain totalled $14.1 million over the same period, with the majority being raw aluminium products.
Bahrain's role as a centre from which to conduct trade with other GCC states is facilitated by its good telecommunications and air and sea links.
In March 2005 New Zealand and Bahrain signed an Arrangement for Cooperation between the Bahrain Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and an Arrangement on Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Since 1 July 1999, GCC nationals, including from Bahrain, have not required visas to visit New Zealand.
Land Area - 717.5 km2 Population - 689,418 (2004), of whom 472,955 are citizens - Capital City - Manama - Language - Arabic and English
Political system - Constitutional Monarchy - National government - Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister who is appointed by the King. - National legislature - Bicameral legislature - the National Assembly, consisting of 40 elected members who sit in the Chamber of Deputies, and a Consultative Council of the same size appointed by the King. - Last election - Municipal and parliamentary elections were held in May and October 2002 respectively, following an overwhelming vote in a February 2001 referendum to return to constitutional monarchy. - Head of State - His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, who acceded to the throne in March 1999. - Head of Government - Prime Minister, Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa.
GDP - US$15.4 billion (2006 EIU estimate) - Real GDP growth - 7.8% (2006 EIU estimate) - Exports - US$11.56 billion (EIU 2006) - Imports - US$8.51 billion (2006 EIU) - Main exports - Crude oil and petrochemicals (US$9.21 billion); aluminium & products (US$1.509 billion) - Current account balance - US$1,863 million (EIU 2005) - Inflation - 3.5% (2006 EIU)
New Zealand Trade (to year ended December 2006) - NZ Exports (FOB) - NZ$16.165 million - Main Exports - Beef (20%); cheese and curd (19%); milk and cream (18%); meat of sheep or goats (10%) - NZ Imports (CIF) - NZ$14.145 million (for year to December 2006) - Main Imports - Aluminium (32.3%);
New Zealand contact with Bahrain has been steady. Since 1977 a series of visits by Bahrain Ministers has taken place, culminating in the visit to New Zealand by the then-Emir in 1985. The Bahraini Foreign Minister made a private stopover visit to New Zealand in mid-1997. In March 2001, a delegation from the Bahrain Ministry of Finance visited New Zealand to study public sector financial reform. In October of the same year, a delegation from the Bahrain Ministry of Education visited New Zealand to study our education and curriculum system. In September 2003 Dr Fayez Al-Sadah, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Oil, and Jalil Al Samahiji, Adviser to the Minister of Oil attended the induction into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame of Major Frank Holmes, the New Zealander who discovered oil in Bahrain. In March 2005 the Prime Minister HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa visited New Zealand accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Shaikh Mohammed Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa and the Minister of Finance, Shaikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa. In May 2006, a delegation of education, commerce and industry officials visited New Zealand to investigate the development of New Zealand's education sector, in order to gain insights for Bahrain's own major education reform programme.
New Zealand high-level visitors to Bahrain have included Prime Ministerial visits in 1977, 1979 and 2003. The Hon Lockwood Smith, then-Minister for International Trade, visited Bahrain in March 1998. The Governor-General, Sir Michael Hardie-Boys, made a stopover visit to Bahrain in April 1998 en route to Gallipoli. The Rt Hon Don McKinnon, then-Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, visited Bahrain in April 1995. More recently, Governor-General Hon Dame Silvia Cartwright visited Bahrain in April 2002. The Prime Minister visited Bahrain in December 2003. The former Minister of Education, Hon Trevor Mallard, led an education sector delegation to Bahrain in May 2003 and again in April 2005.
The Safetravel website provides a travel advisory for travellers to Bahrain [external link].
