At an official meeting of the Bahrain Economic Development Board, his Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad announced the recent achievements the Kingdom has made in the field of sustainable economic development.
The Prince emphasized on the important role of EDB in fostering the country’s diversification efforts, and the non-oil sector in particular. According to the government data, it now makes more than 80% of the GDP. In addition to that, it continued to witness an annual growth of 7.5% since the establishment of EDB in 2001.
His Royal Highness also noted the increasing role of Bahrain on the regional and global fintech scene, stressing on the Fintech Regulatory Sandbox. He also pointed out the success in attracting foreign direct investments and creating jobs.
The EDB’s CEO, Khalid Al Rumaihi added that over the past year, the foreign direct investments reached BHD 124 million. Next to that, according to Al Rumaihi’s data, 53 new international companies established branches in the Kingdom and created over 2300 jobs. Al Rumaini also emphasized the key role of the Central Bank of Bahrain in developing the legal framework to support innovation in the banking and financial sector. He also pointed out that the EDB was now focused on creating a physical space for startups to test their innovative solutions.
At the same time, EDB and the Bahrain Development Bank have been working together to create a fund with USD 100 million to encourage venture capital investments to boost the startup ecosystem in the Kingdom. The EDB also has been collaborating with the Information and eGovernment Authority to consolidate the FDI data to ensure transparency when sharing information with international bodies.
In conclusion, Al Rumaihi did not miss to notice that the 2017 World Investment Report by UNCTAD ranked Bahrain 14th in the MENA region. The Kingdom’s total FDI inflows reached USD 282 million, while the outflows were USD 170 million.