News

Minister of Energy His Excellency Dr. Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza, opened the International Leadership Conference 2015 on Tuesday, May 26 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Bahrain, held with the theme ‘Leadership and Knowledge Management’. The event was organized by the Bahrain Management Society (BMS) in cooperation with the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA), with wide participation by local, regional and international expert speakers, CEOs, managers and representatives of various sectors. A number of researchers and scholars in strategic studies and management science from universities and institutes participated, who exchanged knowledge and experience on all aspects of administrative and strategic processes and organizational excellence.

In his opening speech, the Minister said the year 2015 marked a milestone for NOGA as it completed 10 years since its establishment following the 2005 Royal Decree No. (63) to keep abreast oil industry developments and bring about a radical change in management, with emphasis on leadership excellence and modernization of the administrative work in the government sector in line with international developments. He said the Royal Decree No. (19) for the year 2015 issued in April regarding restructuring the Board of Directors of NOGA and the nogaholding company established the NOGA role of NOGA in adopting modern management approaches and advance the country’s prosperity by virtue of the oil and gas sector, which remained the backbone of the national economy.

H.E. Dr. Mirza said effective management initiatives were helping to transform the organizational knowledge assets into competitive advantages for companies operating in various sectors, which were a prerequisite for better employment, participation and development of talent in programs best suited to the needs of employees. He said employee involvement in project implementation would lead to better management decisions and promote work excellence in organisations.

The Minister termed the institutional leadership experience of Bahrain encouraging, which had always aimed to integrate the tried and tested methods to develop future leaders. It had helped discover managerial skills early so young talents develop into smart decision-makers in their respective organizations. He praised the initiative of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to convert the Kingdom of Bahrain into the centre for the development of world-class talent through his scholarship project for gifted students launched in 2007.

He said the Bahrain Institute of Public Administration (Bipa) was making great efforts by working with the ministries and government institutions in staff training. Bipa’s numerous specialized programs prepared future managers and other promising Bahraini youth, according to their training needs.

The Minister pointed out that though identifying potential leaders was not a simple or obvious task, NOGA was proud to attribute great attention and top priority to the development of the oil and gas sector talent of Bahrain. He expressed delight that all countries were working out comprehensive training programmes with strategies reflecting primarily the national identity, taking advantage of other pioneering international experiences and linking educational output with the needs of the labour market within the context of social and economic reforms. This, Dr. Mirza said, would ensure better job opportunities for the national youth to grow into future leaders in their chosen field in a comfortable and respectable environment, resulting in human development and by creating a participatory society.