It seems a long shot to say that expats investing in the Bahrain commercial ecosystem are pulling down business standards and the standard of living. The truth is, of course, that most small expat businesses are indeed mom-and-pop enterprises and contribute richly to the overall industrial scenario, but perhaps do not generate as much employment for nationals as they should.
But they cannot be dismissed because there are other equally important contributions that they make as enablers. By taking on the role of building blocks in the commercial environment, they support Bahraini-owned businesses, they generate business models and pay valuable tithes to Tamkeen, Gosi and LMRA. Often, business models popularised by new entrepreneurs can inspire 360-degree change in national businesses.
In the early 1970s, when the exodus of Indians fleeing Idi Amin’s Uganda pogrom reached the UK, the whole retail landscape of Great Britain was changed by the willingness of the predominantly Gujarati tradesmen Patels to work relentlessly and keep their tiny convenience stores open well into the night instead of shutting shop by 6pm. Similarly, in the nineties, the US motel industry was transformed by the same mom-and-pop model where owner-manager couples offered best deals, pumping back profits into the business and new acquisitions till the whole motel industry became a ‘Patel sector’.
Closer to home, there are so many inspiring stories of expats who have chased dreams to GCC shores with just loose change in their pockets and an endless supply of ambition, adrenaline and the ability to out-work everybody else. Today, many of these men and women are billionaires, employing thousands of people of all nationalities and underpinning national growth. They stimulate the local economy by setting the stage for tech transfer – even a small restaurant franchise offers new ways to serve up new cuisine and new industrial kitchen technology, for example.
It is a globalised world. Why would we compartmentalise the contributors and take ourselves down a couple of notches just for a temporary hit of populist policy-making? Bahrain has always been a place where people were empowered to dream and transform their dreams into reality. This is largely because the government has steadily dismantled protectionist barricades to doing business and welcomed every aspiring business owner, expat or Bahraini, with open arms. That is not to say it’s a free-for-all. The kingdom has a structured and transparent business law environment which certainly inspires confidence. Let’s keep it that way.
Meanwhile, I urge the BCCI to also add their voice to the discussion and reset the compass of progress.
meeraresponse@gmail.com
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