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Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and a top public agency executive from Bahrain spoke at the Walter Cronkite School to about 150 Phoenix businesspeople and 29 Bahraini government and business representatives Tuesday morning.
The event was an opportunity for businesspeople from both Phoenix and Bahrain to network and build relationships for future business deals and partnerships.
Gordon and Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, the chief executive of Bahrain’s Economic Development Board, signed a memorandum of understanding Monday, which essentially lays the foundation for future business between the city and country.
Gordon, who is planning on visiting Bahrain, a small island country located in the Persian Gulf, at some point in the coming months, said the event went remarkably well. He said the memorandum could lead to investments by Bahrainis in local companies as well as provide additional markets for Phoenician businesses.
“The net effect is creating more employment locally,” he said. “By creating more jobs we create more stability in our economy.”
Cate Wunder, a partner of Mullany Wunder Works, the public relations consultant that organized the event and the Bahrainis’ visit, said the Economic Development Board of Bahrain was interested in working with businesses of all industries and particularly ones in the sustainability, health-care, and food and restaurants sectors.
“We think there will definitely be some trade deals made as a result of this event,” she said.
Aside from being centrally located in the Valley and providing a neutral setting for the businesspeople, Cronkite School Dean Christopher Callahan said he believes the school was chosen by Gordon to host the event because it is representative of the kind of work the mayor has accomplished through partnerships, such as the one he formed with ASU.
The Downtown campus is “a living example of (Gordon’s) creativity in terms of partnering with different groups,” Callahan said.
Contact the reporter at salvador.rodriguez@asu.edu
