Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad will lead an international team of distinguished speakers at an international human resources conference to be held in Bahrain in April.

Labour and Social Affairs Minister Abdulnabi Al Sho'ala said preparations are in full swing for hosting the International Federation of Training and Development Organisation's (IFTDO) 31st World Conference and Exhibition from April 21 to 24.

The conference, titled 'The Power of Knowledge In The New Era', is being held under the patronage of Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, at the Gulf Hotel's Gulf International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The conference is expected to attract more than 1,000 delegates from around the world. About 60 highly qualified speakers will present papers on various subjects related to training and human resources.

The speakers will cover seven themes or tracks including: Performance Excellence; Employee Development; Corporate University - e-learning; E-HR Transformation; Knowledge Management; Performance and Rewards; and Leadership Lessons (success stories).

Among the keynote speakers are Bahrain's Education Minister Dr Mohammed Al Ghatam and Saudi Aramco's employee relations and training vice-president Ali Al Ajmi.

The conference, the first such event to be held in a GCC state, has received support from public and private organisations.

TradeArabia is a sponsor of the event.

Al Sho'ala praised the private sector for its commitment to human resource development in the country and its support to the conference.

He said the conference will help Bahrainis to learn from the experiences of people from other parts of the world and at the same time delegates from other countries could learn from Bahrain's experiences.

The event will further consolidate the country's position as the Middle East's training hub, he said.

IFTDO's current president Ebrahim Al Dossary, who is also the Bahrain Society for Training and Development (BSTD) president, said the event is a rare honour for the GCC in general and Bahrain in particular in that it is being held in the Gulf for the first time in IFTDO's history.

"What makes this conference and exhibition invaluable to human resource professionals is its enormous scale and scope in terms of the quality of speakers, topics covered and range of training products and exhibitors," he said.

An exhibition will also be held concurrent to the conference.

The exhibition's 90 stands will feature GCC ministries, private and public sector corporations, manufacturing and service companies and educational and training institutes.

Al Dossary urged more companies to come forward to support the prestigious conference.