Bahrain organized a reception dinner for the 40th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting participants on the 29th of January 2010, at the Schweizerhof Hotel in Davos, Switzerland. The dinner was organized in honour of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, and hosted by Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company and was attended by over 350 top public and private sector representatives.

As strategic partners, the Bahrain Economic Development Board and Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company have participated in the World Economic Forum meetings in Davos, Switzerland from the 27th of January to 31st of January 2010.

A Bahrain delegation led by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince of Bahrain and Chairman of the Kingdom’s Economic Development Board, arrived in the middle of last week in Davos for the 40th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting.

Among the participants from Bahrain were:

- H.E. Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance and Chairman of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holdings Company
- H.E. Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive of the Economic Development Board
- H.E. Dr. Nazar Al Baharna, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
- H.E. Mr. Rasheed Al Maraj, Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB)
- H.E. Mrs. Nada Haffadh, Member of the Consultative Council of Bahrain
- H.E. Dr. Essam Fakhro, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- H.E. Shaikh Khalifa bin Daij Al Khalifa, President of the Court of the Crown Prince
- Mr. Talal Al Zain, Chief Executive of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company
- Mrs. Elham Hassan, Country Senior Partner of Price Waterhouse Coopers

Bahrain’s participation in Davos was recognized through its three speaking roles.

HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, has taken part in a high level session at the event, titled “Rethinking Market Capitalism”, in which he focused on the elements of market capitalism that should be rethought in light of the global recession. Among the speakers in the session were:

- William W. George, Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School, USA
- Tony Tan Keng-Yam, Chairman, Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, Singapore
- Guy Ryder, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation, Belgium
- Ben Verwaayen, Chief Executive Officer, Alcatel-Lucent, France

In a discussion panel titled “Creating Jobs and Strengthening Social Welfare”, H.E. Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive of the Economic Development Board, spoke about what could be done to assist countries seeking to increase job creation. Other speakers in the session were:

- Rolf Dörig, Chairman, Adecco Group, Adecco Management and Consulting, Switzerland
- Ebrahim Patel, Minister of Economic Development, South Africa
- Sunil Mittal, Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer, Bharti Enterprises, India
- Michael Spindelegger, Federal Minister of European and International Affairs, Austria

Mr. Talal Al Zain, Chief Executive of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, has participated in a session titled “Wanted: Capital”, addressing how businesses can finance capital investments in an era of global deleveraging. Other speakers took part in the session are:

- James Rogers, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Duke Energy Corporation, USA
- José Azevedo, President and Chief Executive Officer, Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras, Brazil
- Donald Gogel, President and Chief Executive Officer, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, USA
- Levin Zhu, President and Chief Executive Officer, China International Capital Corporation, China

The delegation have also conducted various interviews with different news and media providers, among which are CNBC Arabia, CNBC Europe, Al Arabiya, Financial Times, France 24 TV, BBC World News, Bloomberg TV, Dow Jones and Reuters.

In addition to interviews many of the delegation members have conducted bilateral meetings with government/public figures in addition to business representatives discussing future investment opportunities in Bahrain.