The Bahrain Economic Development Board (governmental) revealed that Bahrain attracted foreign direct investments worth $885 million during the year 2020, which included establishing new companies or expanding the business of existing companies despite the repercussions of the Corona pandemic.
Local, regional and international companies launched projects and invested in sectors such as financial services, manufacturing, logistics and tourism over the past year. According to the council, the incoming investments to the Kingdom are expected to create more than 4,300 jobs over the next three years. Indicating that the accumulated foreign investments in the Kingdom of Bahrain have achieved a continuous growth in the past ten years, as this stock is witnessing a growth of about one billion dollars annually.
The Council revealed that the volume of accumulated direct investments relative to the Kingdom's GDP reached 78 percent in 2019, double the global average, which is estimated at 42 percent.
Bahrain is the least productive in terms of oil resources among the GCC states, and produces about 200 thousand barrels of crude oil per day. The Bahraini economy was affected by the outbreak of the Coronavirus, which prompted the government to approve a financial stimulus package worth 4.3 billion dinars (11.4 billion dollars) as a top priority to support the economy to face the repercussions of the pandemic. The year 2018 witnessed a big jump in foreign direct investment in Bahrain, which more than doubled during the first nine months of the year. Manama is promoting itself as a regional base for companies, especially to reach the Saudi market, in light of the economic reforms implemented by Riyadh.
Source (London-based Arab Newspaper, Edited)
