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Bahrain

Building, Bench, Furniture

Bahrain’s hospitality sector grows 18%, helping Q2 GDP up 6.9%

Bahrain’s gross domestic product rose 6.9 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2022, posting the biggest annual increase since 2011, Bahrain News Agency reported, citing the Ministry of Finance and National Economy. The positive economic growth was driven by the strong performance of the non-oil sectors targeted by the Economic Recovery Plan. The hotels […]

Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, wears the Queen's Bahraini pearl earrings

Bahrain pearls given royal stamp of approval

The UK’s Princess of Wales put Bahraini pearls back in the spotlight this week when she wore a pair of earrings made from the precious stone for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Her timing was perfect as Bahrain aims to re-establish itself as the global centre for sustainable pearls. Catherine, Prince William’s wife, sported […]

Minister of economy and industry of Israel, Orna Barbivai, and minister of industry and commerce of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Zayed bin Rashid Al-Zayani, during their meeting in Manama

Bahrain and Israel start free trade agreement talks

Israel and Bahrain have begun negotiating a free trade agreement, Israel’s Economy Ministry said on Tuesday. Israel normalised diplomatic relations with Bahrain and its Gulf neighbour the United Arab Emirates (UAE) two years ago under US sponsorship. While economic ties with the UAE has since taken off, Israel’s trade with Bahrain has lagged far behind. […]

TruKKer launched their Bahrain service in November last year

Bahrain’s Investcorp plans three Saudi deals this year

Investcorp plans to pump millions into at least three companies by the end of this year under its Saudi Pre-IPO Growth Fund, a senior executive has told AGBI. The first of the three planned deals is with TruKKer Holding, a Riyadh-based digital freight company often referred to as “the Uber of lorries” in the Middle […]

Clothing, Apparel, Face

Bahrain restructures board of wealth fund Mumtalakat

Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the prime minister, has issued an order to restructure the board of sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat Holding with Finance Minister Salman bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa as its chairman, with immediate effect, state news agency BNA reported on Sunday. The members of the new Mumtalakat board will serve for a […]

Mall expansion fills ‘lifestyle’ gap in Bahrain retail market

A massive new expansion of one of Bahrain’s biggest malls is a sign of renewed confidence in the Gulf kingdom’s retail sector as it looks to attract more Saudi shoppers from across the border, according to experts. The Avenues Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Al-Sorouh Management Company, has announced the appointment of Nass Group […]

Bahrain posts budget surplus of $88m in H1 2022

Bahrain has posted a budget surplus of 33 million dinars ($88 million) in the first half of 2022 from a deficit of 520 million dinars a year earlier, the country’s Ministry of Finance said on Monday. The data also showed total public revenues at 1.698 billion dinars, up 52 percent year-on-year, while total expenditure stood […]

Crown prince keen to catch up after slow start on green energy

At a time of heightened global pressure to cut carbon emissions, many Gulf countries are racing to develop their renewable energy credentials. Bahrain, however, has been one of the slower-moving actors, and still relies on conventional fuels for almost all of its electricity.  The country had a mere 12mw of renewable capacity in 2021, just […]

The Bahrain World Trade Center

The Gulf island state’s vision for recovery and growth

From building new cities to upskilling nationals for digital transformation, Ali Murtaza, executive director, business development for tourism and real estate on the Bahrain Economic Development Board, answers a Q&A with AGBI on the state’s all-encompassing recovery strategy. Bahrain’s economic recovery plan was revised during the coronavirus pandemic. What are the details? The economic recovery […]

Doubling oil output may prove a challenge too far

Four years after announcing a giant discovery of 80 billion barrels of oil shale and 20 trillion cubic feet of gas off the coast of Bahrain, Manama has yet to make a final decision on whether to push ahead with what would be an expensive and challenging project. The offshore basin, which wraps around the […]

Bahrain’s non-oil economy has wind in its sails

With Bahrain’s finances looking better than many expected, inflation broadly contained, and moves under way to boost private sector projects, the mood in the capital, Manama, is more upbeat in 2022 than seemed plausible 12 months ago. Darkening economic skies – largely coronavirus-related but also due to weaker hydrocarbons proceeds – had forced the government […]

Manama goes all out to woo international holidaymakers

If the number of people that poured into Bahrain in March for the Formula 1 Grand Prix is any guide, the country’s tourism prospects look bright. One observer reported seeing more private jets at the airport than ever before, and the race-day attendance of 35,000 fans was a record. Those signs of revival from the […]

High Rise, City, Urban

Latest $11.6bn bank merger to create Gulf’s 7th largest lender

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has agreed to buy Bahrain’s Ahli United for about $11.6billion. The bumper deal would create the Gulf’s seventh-largest lender with $115 billion in assets. Under the revised terms, KFH will offer one share for every 2.695 shares of Ahli, implying an offer price of $1.04 per share – a 13 percent […]

Bahrain sees 984% rise in tourism

There has been a 984 percent increase in the number of tourists arriving in Bahrain in the first quarter of this year, compared with the same period last year. The Gulf kingdom received nearly 1.7 million visitors in Q1 2022, against 152,000 in Q1 2021, according to the Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA),  The jump follows […]

Bahrain Future Generations Reserve Fund grows 20.4%

Bahrain Future Generations Reserve Fund’s (FGF) assets increased by 20.4 percent year on year to $626.9 million by December 2021, the finance ministry said on Monday. Bahrain lacks the ample oil and financial resources of its neighbours, and its state finances are among the weakest in the gulf region.

Bahrain in advanced talks for cloud computing deals

Bahrain is in advanced talks for investment deals with cloud computing companies from the United States, China and the United Arab Emirates, an Economic Development Board executive said, as the country seeks to diversify its oil-based economy. Cloud computing and foreign direct investment are key planks of Bahrain’s economic recovery programme that aims to grow […]

Aluminium Bahrain BSC is the first aluminium smelter in the Middle East

Alba confirms it is ‘exploring’ listing in Saudi Arabia

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat is considering a secondary listing of Aluminium Bahrain BSC (Alba) on Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul stock market. Alba said in a statement to the Bahrain Stock Exchange yesterday it is “exploring various opportunities, one of which is a potential secondary listing on Saudi Arabia’s Stock Exchange which is currently under evaluation […]

Wheel, Machine, Car

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund eyes McLaren IPO within 3 years

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, which has a 60 percent stake in McLaren, expects the British racing team and supercar maker to go public in two to three years, its chief executive told Reuters on Tuesday. “The racing team has benefited from the growth and viewership so that side of the business has been doing […]

Meeting in office

Bahrain’s Investcorp sells German software developer for $125m

Investcorp has sold German software firm softgarden for around 120 million euros ($125 million), said Hazem Ben-Gacem, co-chief executive officer of the Bahrain-based company. The sale to Poland’s Grupa Pracuj marks a three times return on investment for Investcorp, which bought its controlling stake in the human resources software specialist in 2018, Ben-Gacem said on […]

Bahrain gets new oil minister in cabinet reshuffle

Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa ordered a cabinet reshuffle on Monday that included appointing a new oil minister, state media reported. Mohammed bin Mubarak Bin Dainah, who was the country’s envoy for climate affairs, was named minister of oil and environment, replacing Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa. The reshuffle […]