News

MANAMA, BAHRAIN - President and Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Kimberly A. Reed met yesterday with His Excellency Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, Minister of Oil of the Kingdom of Bahrain, to discuss the role of EXIM and opportunities for cooperation in the energy sector, including the potential to expand Bahrain's renewable energy sector and broaden U.S. trade and investment in the Kingdom.

Meeting on the margins of the 16th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Manama Dialogue, Chairman Reed and Shaikh Mohammed exchanged ideas on how energy and economic security are essential pillars of national security. 

They also discussed EXIM's historic 2019 reauthorization, including the legislation's new Program on China and Transformational Exports (Program), which directs EXIM to provide financial products to directly neutralize export subsidies offered by the People's Republic of China, helping to ensure a level playing field for U.S. businesses and workers as they compete globally. The Program also focuses on supporting ten transformational export sectors, including 5G, emerging financial technology, renewable energy, biomedical sciences, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and high-performance computing.

Bahrain Minister of Oil Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa and EXIM Chairman Reed

Chairman Reed congratulated the Kingdom of Bahrain on its signing of the historic Abraham Accords and reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to deepening its long-standing and friendly bilateral relations with the people and government of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

To further demonstrate the collaborative partnership between Bahrain and the United States, Shaikh Mohammed took Chairman Reed to see the Bahrain Campus of West Virginia University. Chairman Reed is a graduate of West Virginia University College of Law and recently was honored by her alma mater and West Virginia Executive as a 2020 "Lawyer and Leader" for making a positive impact on the state and the nation.

Tatweer Petroleum CEO Jim Eastlack, Chairman Reed, Shaikh Mohammed

Chairman Reed traveled to Bahrain to represent the United States as the U.S. delegate at the IISS Manama Dialogue, a unique international security and regional diplomatic summit, where delegations from more than 20 countries also will conduct face-to-face diplomacy through bilateral and multilateral meetings.

ABOUT EXIM:

EXIM is an independent federal agency that promotes and supports American jobs by providing competitive and necessary export credit to support sales of U.S. goods and services to international buyers. A robust EXIM can level the global playing field for U.S. exporters when they compete against foreign companies that receive support from their governments. EXIM also contributes to U.S. economic growth by helping to create and sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. In recent years, approximately 90 percent of the total number of the agency's authorizations has directly supported small businesses. Since 1992, EXIM has generated more than $9 billion for the U.S. Treasury for repayment of U.S. debt.

For more information about EXIM, please visit www.exim.gov.