His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Chairman of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) today chaired the EDB’s board meeting at the organisation’s headquarters in Bahrain Bay.
7.5%

His Royal Highness highlighted that advancing sustainable economic development and increasing Bahrain’s global competitiveness are vital to facilitating direct investment and creating high-quality jobs for citizens. He also highlighted Bahrain’s achievements in developing an attractive regulatory environment needed to encourage innovative and high-tech opportunities across the country, stressing that the introduction of a Fintech Regulatory Sandbox will encourage the adoption of innovative financial solutions that reflect global trends.

His Royal highness went on to emphasise that these development efforts, intended to prioritise the needs of citizens, should continue at a swift pace in order to meet the expectations of HM King Hamad.

During the meeting, the EDB’s Chief Executive, Khalid Al Rumaihi, gave a presentation which covered a wide range of achievements over the past year. These include significant direct investments worth over BHD 124 million (USD 329 million). The CEO also highlighted that the 53 new international companies set up in the country will help create over 2300 jobs. These figures reflect an outstanding year, and demonstrate that economic development continues to gather pace.

The presentation also covered EDB-led initiatives in collaboration with the private sector, which aim to bolster sustainable economic growth and increase direct investments. Emphasis was also placed on the EDB’s role in advancing the Kingdom’s diversification efforts, particularly non-oil sector growth, which now makes more than 80% of national GDP and continued to see 7.5% annual growth since the inception of the EDB in 2001.

In addition, Al Rumaihi discussed the importance of strengthening Bahrain’s position as a regional hub for Fintech. In this regard, he noted the CBB’s key role in developing the appropriate regulatory environment to support innovation in the financial sector. He also noted that the EDB is currently developing a physical space for entrepreneurs and Fintech companies from around the world to test their innovative financial solutions. This space will provide entrepreneurs and Fintech companies access to investors and the necessary technical support.

Al Rumaihi explained that the EDB, in cooperation with Bahrain Development Bank, is working on establishing a fund with US $100 million in capital aiming to encourage venture capital investments and to develop a sustainable environment for start-ups and innovation. He also noted the EDB’s new collaborative initiative with the Information and eGovernment Authority, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and the Central Bank of Bahrain to consolidate Bahrain’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) data. This initiative aims to ensure the transparency of Bahrain’s FDI figures when sharing with international bodies.

Al Rumaihi also highlighted the Kingdom’s achievements in the 2017 World Investment Report issued by UNCTAD, which ranked Bahrain 14th in the Middle East and North Africa. Bahrain’s total FDI inflows were worth US $282 million, while FDI outflows from the Kingdom registered at US $170 million.

Source: Fana News