Overview of best prospect sectors, major infrastructure projects, significant government procurements and business opportunities.
Last Published: 2/12/2019
  • The Bahraini Government announced in April 2018 the discovery of the largest oil and gas discovery since the Kingdom’s first oil was discovered in the 1930s.  The deposits are estimated to consist of at least 80 billion barrels of tight oil and between 10 and 20 trillion cubic feet of deep natural gas.  If the oil deposits prove to be viable, government and industry officials anticipate a significant increase in Bahrain's oil production.
  • The non-petroleum sector of Bahrain’s economy continues to grow at rates above historic trends.  Growth areas include:  high-value manufacturing and industrial services, information technology, health care and medical equipment, construction and engineering, ports, professional services, renewable energy, and tourism.
  • Financial technologies (FinTech) is also a growing sector in Bahrain.  As part of the Bahraini Government’s push to reinforce its position as a financial center in the region, the Bahrain Economic Development Board and Singapore’s FinTech Consortium inagurated the MENA region’s largest FinTech hub, Bahrain FinTech Bay, in 2017.  Bahrain FinTech Bay hosts companies involved in digital banking, e-wallets, blockchain, smart contracts, artificial intelligence, risk management, and other FinTech specializations.  The hub aims to further the development and acceleration of FinTech firms as well as the interaction between investors, entrepreneurs, government bodies and financial institutions.
  • The Bahraini Government plans to increase Bahrain’s land area by more than 15 percent in the coming years by reclaiming land for commercial development.
  • The Bahraini Government has initiated major development projects in the infrastructure and transportation sectors, including quadrupling the size of Bahrain International Airport, building a second causeway to Saudi Arabia, expanding roads to less developed parts of the island, and connecting all citizens to the fiber-optic network.
  • Plans to expand and upgrade production lines at state-owned enterprises, including Aluminum Bahrain (ALBA), Gulf Petrochemicals Industries Company (GPIC), and Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), are in process or the planning stage.  The Bahraini Government also has initiated construction of an LNG import terminal.
  • Companies that produce qualifying manufactured products in Bahrain can access Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets duty free under the GCC Customs Union. 
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Bahrain Trade Development and Promotion