H&K sells Bahrain to Europe

Hill & Knowlton is planning a campaign to promote Bahrain as an established financial centre and a stable country with an educated workforce. H&K MD Stuart Wilson leads the account.

The organisation licenses 364 financial institutions, 187 of which are banks and banking-related institutions.

The H&K PR push will also emphasise that 73 per cent of staff working in the Kingdom’s financial services are from Bahrain, compared to much lower percentages of local workers in the financial services industries of other Middle Eastern states. Only around five per cent of staff in Dubai’s financial services sector come from that country.

Bahrain also hopes to capitalise on its democratic status. The Kingdom declared itself a constitutional monarchy in 2002 and called its first parliamentary elections for 27 years.

In June, Gulf Hill & Knowlton evacuated staff from its Saudi offices to Bahrain and Dubai following an escalation in attacks on westerners (PRWeek, 17 June).