Bahrain’s high-level delegation has sucessfully concluded its participation at the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2023 annual meeting titled “Cooperation in a Fragmented World,” held at Davos from the 16th until the 20th of January.

During its participation, the delegation, led by H.E. Noor bint Ali Alkhulaif, Minister of Sustainable Development, promoted Bahrain’s unique investment opportunities, along with the Kingdom’s achievements under the Economic Recovery Plan.

The high-level delegation included H.E. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, H.E. Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive Officer of Osool and Chairman of Bahrain Telecommunications Company B.S.C (Batelco), H.E. Khalid Humaidan, Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), H.E. Iain Lindsay OB OBE, Advisor to the Board at the EDB, Dr. Samer Al Jishi, Group President of BFG International, and Hala Al-Moayyed, Vice Chairman of the Board at Al-Moayyed International Group.

Among the members of the Bahraini delegation, H.E. the Minister of Sustainable Development spoke in three panels titled “Formulating the Future: How Women Are Shaping Sustainability Across Sectors,”“Accelerating Clean Power,” and “Between Liquidity and Fragility: Reforming MENA.” She also participated alongside H.E. the Minister of Industry and Commerce in a dinner dialogue about climate change in the Middle East, and alongside H.E. Khalid Humaidan in the “Sustainable and Digital FDI” panel.

Meanwhile H.E. Khalid Humaidan participated in three other discussion panels titled: “Developing New Realities: Redirected Focus in a Changing World,” “Bricks or Clicks: What Kind of Investment do Economies Need?”, and “Busting Business Barriers.” Additionally, the members of the ‘Team Bahrain’ delegation participated in multiple strategic meetings and networking events on the sidelines of the forum to reach the wider WEF audience.

Bahrain enjoys a cost advantage of up to 27% in terms of annual operating costs for financial services institutions when compared to its GCC peers, according to KPMG’s “Cost of Doing Business in the GCC” report. The 2022 report measures the direct and indirect annual costs associated with operating a financial services institution in selected GCC regions: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain.

The 27% annual cost advantage was calculated through direct costs, which are measured by looking at total costs related to business registration and licensing, commercial rental rates, workforce costs, telecom costs, internet charges, electricity and water charges. Bahrain compares favourably as an affordable country with the most competitive licensing costs, commercial rental costs, as well as utilities charges. For example, annual commercial rent costs is 32% lower compared to GCC average. Annual licensing fees are also another cost advantage for financial institutions in Bahrain – 58% lower than the GCC average.

On the other hand, indirect costs present an overview of the average cost of living, focusing on the cost of education, residential utility costs, cost of renting residential properties, and domestic help remuneration. Bahrain is the most competitive GCC country in terms of the annual cost of living, 23% below the regional average, and is the most favourable jurisdiction with regards to the cost of education, accommodation costs and domestic help remuneration in the select GCC countries.  

When looking at both direct and indirect costs, the overall annual costs in Bahrain were 12% lower than the average of select GCC jurisdictions. Companies in Bahrain also enjoy many tax benefits, with zero taxes on corporate income and capital gains.

Dalal Buhejji, Executive Director – Business Development for Financial Services at the Bahrain Economic Development Board (Bahrain EDB), said: “Bahrain’s competitive operating costs have always made it an attractive investment destination for financial companies.”

Bahrain EDB, supported by other government bodies in Bahrain, has attracted over 1.1 billion USD worth of direct investments during 2022. The investments are expected to generate over 6,300 jobs over the next three years in key sectors, including financial services, ICT, logistics, manufacturing, and tourism.

“The financial sector is a primary driver of Bahrain’s economy. In 2021, Inward FDI stocks for financial services stood at around 22 billion USD, accounting for 66% of Bahrain’s total inward stocks. The sector continues to be a focus for the Bahraini government and is considered a priority sector under the National Economic Recovery Plan, which was launched to further diversify our economy and broaden the scope of economic activities,” Dalal added.

The financial services sector is the largest non-oil sector in Bahrain, making up 17.7% of its GDP (as of 2021). Under the Economic Recovery Plan, the four-year financial services sector strategy (from 2022 –

2026) aims to increase the financial sector’s contribution to GDP in the range of 20% until the end of 2026, and then increase the contribution to 25%. To view the full “Cost of doing business in the GCC – Financial Services 2022” report, please visit the following link: https://www.bahrainedb.com/app/uploads/2022/11/Cost-of-Doing-Business_FS_Final_06112022.pdf

A high-level Bahraini delegation will arrive to the Swiss city Davos tomorrow to participate in the annual World Economic Forum titled “Cooperation in a Fragmented World,” which will be held from the 16th until the 20th of January.

The delegation, led by H.E. Noor bint Ali Alkhulaif, Minister of Sustainable Development, will shed light on Bahrain’s unique investment opportunities to global decision makers in various business sectors, with the aim of attracting more investments to the Kingdom to contribute to further job creation and boosting the economy.

The high-level delegation includes H.E. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, H.E. Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive Officer of Osool and Chairman of Bahrain Telecommunications Company B.S.C (Batelco), H.E. Khalid Humaidan, Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), H.E. Iain Lindsay OB OBE, Advisor to the Board at the EDB, Dr. Samer Al Jishi, Group President of BFG International, and Hala Al-Moayyed, Vice Chairman of the Board at Al-Moayyed International Group.

On this occasion, H.E. Noor bint Ali Alkhulaif, Minister of Sustainable Development, commented: “We look forward to participating in the World Economic Forum which provides a platform to connect with key global economic decision-makers and promote investment opportunities in the Kingdom. It is also an opportunity to discuss the global trends in sustainability and investments practices in the midst of economic and geopolitical challenges.”

H.E. the Minister of Sustainable Development will be speaking in a panel titled “Formulating the Future: How Women Are Shaping Sustainability Across Sectors,” and she also will participate alongside H.E. the Minister of Industry and Commerce in a dinner dialogue about climate change in the Middle East. Meanwhile, H.E. Khalid Humaidan will participate in multiple discussion panels titled: “Developing New Realities: Redirected Focus in a Changing World,” “Bricks or Clicks: What Kind of Investment do Economies Need?”, “Sustainable and Digital FDI,” and “Busting Business Barriers.” In addition, the members of Bahrain’s delegation will have multiple strategic meetings and networking events on the sidelines of the forum to promote investment opportunities in Bahrain.

In 2022, the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) the Kingdom’s investment promotion agency, supported by Team Bahrain, attracted over USD1.1 billion of direct investment, a record year for the Kingdom’s investment promotion agency. The EDB exceeded the USD1 billion target set by its Board of Directors at the beginning of the year.

The investments are from 88 companies and are expected to generate over 6,300 jobs in the local market over the next three years. The investments are in key sectors, including financial services, ICT, logistics, manufacturing, and tourism.

Under the Economic Recovery Plan, Bahrain will continue to enhance its business environment to increase foreign direct investment by more than USD2.5 billion by 2023. This includes streamlining commercial procedures to increase their effectiveness and easing business setup.

Commenting on the EDB’s record year, HE Khalid Humaidan, Chief Executive of Bahrain EDB said “The size of direct investment attracted this year is a testament to Bahrain’s attractiveness to investors. The Kingdom’s offerings include best value operating costs, the availability of a talented workforce, an advanced digital infrastructure and a forward looking regulatory environment.”

This year, Bahrain ranked first in multiple global indices, including the first in MENA for Financial Freedom, Investment Freedom and Trade Freedom according to Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom 2022 and first in MENA for Economic Freedom according to the Fraser Institute.

Bahrain’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows increased by USD1.766 billion in 2021, marking a 73% year-on-year increase and surpassing the global FDI average growth, according to the 2022 World Investment Report issued by the United Nations Conference of Trade and Development (UNCTAD). In 2021, Bahrain’s inward FDI stocks increased by 6%, reaching USD33.47 billion. This represented 86% of Bahrain’s GDP, ranking Bahrain as the highest in GCC and surpassing the global average of 47%.

Growth Velocity Academy’s Bootcamps will offer Bahrainis invaluable skills and hands-on training to meet the rising demand for digital marketing.

Supported by the Bahrain Economic Development Board (Bahrain EDB), leading digital marketing academy, Growth Velocity Academy announced moving its headquarters to the Kingdom of Bahrain to accelerate growth and tap into the MENA region’s growing markets.

Growth Velocity Academy will start operations by launching its Digital Marketing Accelerator Bootcamps, which offer a unique hands-on experience taught by industry-leading marketing professionals to provide world-class training for Bahrainis. The Academy’s programs focus on delivering cutting-edge practical skills & a growth mindset to all trainees, enabling marketers and entrepreneurs to gain confidence using various tools and frameworks to target and acquire customers online.

Commenting on this announcement, Munther Almudawi, Executive Director – Business Development at Bahrain EDB said: “We are excited to see Growth Velocity Academy moving to Bahrain and launching its training programs to upskill digital Bahraini talent. This is in line with the pillars under the country’s Economic Recovery Plan, which aims to train 10,000 Bahrainis annually until 2024 to create promising job opportunities and ensure Bahrainis are the first choice for employers.”

Howard Kingston, co-founder of Growth Velocity Academy expressed his enthusiasm about opening the courses to empower Bahraini talent, stressing the importance of Digital Marketing in today’s world. He said: “The world has changed. Right now, more than ever, we need the right strategies, the connection with the audience and the motivation to get ahead of the curve. The pandemic has forced every business to market online, creating the biggest new opportunity for Digital Marketers and Digital Businesses in the past decade.” He added, “it’s only the people who know how to market a business digitally that won’t get left behind.

We’re excited to continue to serve the MENA market and we felt that headquartering the business in Bahrain is the perfect launchpad for us to fulfill our vision.”

As part of the National Economic Recovery Plan, Bahrain launched a Telecommunications, ICT, and Digital Economy Sector Strategy (from the years 2022 until 2026) which aims to establish a world-class Bahraini digital infrastructure, develop cybersecurity standards, attract big-tech companies to the Kingdom, and make Bahrain a regional digital innovation hub. Interested people can apply to join Growth Velocity Academy’s Digital Marketing Program by visiting: https://growthvelocity.academy/gva-bahrain

The Bahrain Economic Development Board (Bahrain EDB), supported by Team Bahrain, has attracted USD291 million (BHD110 million) in direct investments in the tourism sector during the first three quarters of 2022.

Tourism investments are coming through eight companies expanding or entering Bahrain for the first time and are expected to generate over 1090 jobs over the next three years.

In total, Bahrain EDB attracted USD921 million (BHD348 million) in direct investment from 66 companies during the first nine months of the year. The investments are expected to generate over 4,700 jobs over the next three years in key sectors, including financial services, ICT, logistics, manufacturing, and tourism.

Munther Al-Mudawi, Executive Director – Business Development for Tourism at Bahrain EDB, commented:“We are pleased to witness this momentum in the tourism sector post Covid-19. All the indicators showing that we are in the right direction to recover, and with our four-year Tourism Strategy under the Economic Recovery Plan, we are hoping to attract even more investments and welcome 14 million tourists by 2026.”

As part of the Kingdoms’ Economic Recovery Plan, Bahrain announced a new 4-year strategy (2022-2026) for the tourism sector that aims to attract 14.1 million tourists by 2026. The strategy’s framework has four main objectives: To increase the contribution of the tourism sector to GDP to reach 11.4 percent in 2026, highlight Bahrain’s position as a global tourist hub, increase the number of targeted countries to attract more tourists, and diversify tourism products.

According to the latest statistics, Bahrain registered 6.9 million visitors by the end of September 2022. The hospitality and hotel sector recorded around 5.9 million tourist nights, and the total tourism revenues amounted to around USD1.7 billion (BHD 622.4 million) during the first half of 2022.

G4S, the world’s leading integrated security company, specialising in the provision of security services and solutions to customers and active in 85 markets, will be expanding its Bahrain operation with an investment more than US $3 million and it will create 160 jobs in Bahrain within three years, with the support of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB).

G4S obtained the Ancillary Service Provider – Cash Processing Services license from the CBB, where G4S will provide multiple activities, including cash management and deposit preparation, corporate/retail consolidation, processing of deposits for banks, ATM balancing, reconciliation, and administration.

The Managing Director of G4S Cash Solutions Bahrain Christos Volis said: “This expansion will enable us to provide a wide range of services to customers. The Kingdom of Bahrain has been supportive throughout the set-up process, and we look forward to benefiting from the Kingdom’s forward-looking regulations and highly developed financial services sector. We would like to thank the EDB and CBB for their support in this journey.”

Ali Almudaifa, Chief Investment Officer at Bahrain EDB said: “We are pleased with G4S decision to expand their operation in Bahrain, this is a reflection of the growth of the financial services sector.”

Supported by the Bahrain Economic Development Board (Bahrain EDB), Bambucorn Bahrain WLL, Bahrain grown equity crowdfunding platform has obtained the license from the Central Bank of Bahrain to carry out activities of Ancillary Service Provider – Crowdfunding Platform Operator. Bambucorn will enable startups, SMEs and real estate projects to raise equity from both accredited and retail investors.

The license from the Central Bank of Bahrain will effectively enable Bambucorn to raise capital for issuers in Bahrain and those located outside Bahrain. One of Bambucorn’s group companies is already licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority to operate an equity crowdfunding platform in the UAE. The recent license obtained from the Central Bank of Bahrain further signifies the group’s commitment to contributing to the region’s growing Fintech ecosystem.

Fareed Bader, Co-founder and Chairman of Bambucorn Group commented: “Bahrain has always been at the forefront when it comes to Fintech and the regulators are playing a pivotal role in ensuring that investors’ interests are adequately protected whilst at the same time providing enough opportunities for innovative Fintech companies to flourish in the country. We certainly look forward to working alongside all stakeholders to optimize the capital raising exercise for startups, SMEs and real estate projects.”

Narayanan Ganapathy, Co-founder of Bambucorn Bahrain commented: “Capital allocation has always been a challenge and oftentimes tricky, particularly when it comes to early-stage investments. Providing both accredited and retail investors the ability to write smaller checks towards early-stage ventures and real estate opportunities helps investors diversify their portfolios. Businesses looking to gain customer loyalty can resort to crowdfunding, providing their customers the ability to acquire equity interests in them through the platform. The CBB license certainly strengthens Bambucorn’s foothold in the region as an innovative Fintech company.”

Commenting on this occasion, Dalal Buhejji, Executive Director of Business Development – Financial Services, said: “Bahrain’s forward-looking regulators consistently made it the first choice for Fintech companies setting up in this region. We’re happy to see Bambucorn receive its license from the CBB, which is a testament to our robust financial regulatory system that has enabled many companies to innovate in Bahrain and serve the wider region.” Bahrain offers technology and financial services disruptors a gateway to the Gulf markets, providing traditional banking institutions, FinTech startups, and scaleups a collaborative space to test and scale new products across the entire region. Developing the FinTech subsector in Bahrain is one of the priorities under the Financial Services Sector’s Development Strategy that comes as part of the National Economic Recovery Plan to drive future growth.