MANAMA: Last year saw 40 new companies investing a total of BD106 million ($281m) in Bahrain, as a result of its efforts, the Economic Development Board (EDB) said.
In a report, the semi-autonomous agency responsible for formulating Bahrain’s future economic strategy said the new companies are expected to generate a total of 1,647 job opportunities over the next three years.
The companies represent regional and international organisations from countries including India, China, the US and Germany.
Seventeen companies specialise in manufacturing and logistics, another seven in financial services, seven more in leisure and tourism, seven in professional services and two in information and communication technology.
In terms of investments, the tourism sector attracted 75 per cent of total investments while the manufacturing and logistics sector accounted for 15pc, and the financial services sector a further 9pc.
As a result, the total amount of investment attracted last year was double that of 2015, which stood at BD53.6m invested by 22 companies.
“Our success in doubling the investments during last year comes as a result of unifying our efforts with various government bodies to ensure Bahrain is truly business friendly,” said EDB chief executive Khalid Al Rumaihi.
“Today, investors in Bahrain enjoy an attractive business environment that offers cost-effective operations, advanced physical and soft infrastructure, as well as the abundance of an experienced bilingual workforce.”
One of the companies attracted by the EDB includes Armacell, a world leader in flexible insulation foams for the equipment insulation market and leading provider of engineered foam.
The company plans to invest around $16m in its new plant at Bahrain International Investment Park (BIIP), which will produce elastomeric rubber insulation for the $3 billion heating, ventilating and air conditioning market in the GCC.
Furniture giant Ikea also announced its $124.8m investment to establish its largest flagship store in the Gulf, covering a total area of 37,000sqm in Salmabad.
Various other companies including CIMC, Euroscot, Mukta A2 Cinemas, Ziraat Bank, Mastercard, Amazon Web Services and Palestine Investment Bank Bahrain have also established new investment projects in the kingdom.
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