• Investment expected to create 150 jobs and generate over US$31 million in revenue in first year of operation

KKC Industries WLL (iCOOL), a Chinese manufacturer of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) products has launched a US$10.7 million manufacturing facility in Bahrain.

Through its operations in Bahrain, iCOOL will produce and export air conditioning insulation pipes to the Middle East, US, and European markets, utilising Bahrain’s strategic location and duty-free trade through its FTAs with 22 countries around the world, including the first-ever US FTA with a GCC member.

As an HVAC manufacturer, iCOOL serves customers from 130 countries with an annual revenue of US $420 million. Approximately 80% of the machinery used by iCOOL is designed and developed by the company, which allows iCool to operate at 10% higher capacity than its peers.

Gary Xu, General Manager at iCOOL-Bahrain commented: “With two decades of experience, iCOOL continues to introduce new and innovative products that improve efficiency. We build customer-centric and products that are great value for cost, and Bahrain is the perfect location to capitalise on for our business through its refined manufacturing ecosystem, best-value operating cost and skilled workforce. We look forward to using Bahrain’s value proposition to generate high revenues as we target producing 480 containers of air conditioning insulation pipes within the first year of operation, equating to over US$ 31 million in revenue.”  

Ahmed Sultan, Executive Director of Investment Development – Manufacturing, Transport, and Logistics at Bahrain EDB, commented: “Manufacturing is one of the key sectors for the Kingdom’s Economic Recovery Plan and the investment opportunities it creates. This announcement is a reflection of Bahrain’s unique offering for investors. We are delighted that iCOOL did choose Bahrain as their hub to serve their needs for their markets in the Middle East, US, and Europe while creating over 150 jobs in Bahrain during the next 3 years.”

As per the Kingdom’s Economic Recovery Plan, Bahrain aims to increase the manufacturing sector’s contribution to the overall national origin export to 80.1% of Bahrain’s total export by 2026. Manufacturing accounts for around 14% of GDP and is the second largest contributor to Bahrain’s non-oil sector.

The Central Bank of Bahrain (“CBB”) has conducted a comprehensive review of its Collective Investment Undertakings (“CIU”) regulations governing the mutual funds industry as part of the CBB’s wider strategy to conduct a comprehensive review to the whole financial sector regulatory framework.  The new framework acknowledges the demands placed by the fast-paced changes in the fund management industry and therefore aims at lightning the administrative processes and simplifying the authorisation requirements for establishing and marketing CIUs.

The amendments to the regulations focus on dividing CIUs into two broad categories, the first category is targeting retail investors and the second category is targeting accredited and affluent investors. The regulations pertaining to the first category of CIUs contain details regarding the nature of investment in the CIUs and require receiving CBB’s prior approval whereas the second category only requires notification to the CBB by the placement agent.

The CIUs targeting retail investors are low risk with proper diversification and risk management, while CIUs targeted towards accredited and affluent investors contain high risk investments with the aim of delivering high returns.

The new regulations emphasize on the importance of key areas such as the corporate governance requirements, high standards of business conduct, safeguarding and segregation of investors’ money, and disclosure standards in line with international best practices.    

Bahrain has had a thriving funds industry since the 1980s.  Since then, the mutual funds industry in Bahrain experienced further growth and developments. As at the end of February 2022, the number of mutual funds stood at 1664, with a net asset value (NAV) of US$ 10.6 billion.

Commenting on the new regulations, Ms. Ebtisam Al Arrayed, Director of Financial Institutions Supervision Directorate at the CBB, said “The fund industry in Bahrain has established a long-standing track record, and the CBB is fully supportive to the industry. The enhanced regulatory framework forms part of CBB’s Financial Services Development Strategy (2022-2026) and will set the environment for the growth and progress of the industry.  Local, Regional, and international fund operators and global investors will find the Kingdom attractive for fund domiciliation as well as for using Bahrain as a launchpad for serving global markets” 

Ms. Shireen Al Sayed, Director of Regulatory Policy Unit at the CBB said “The CBB embarked on a comprehensive revision of the CIU regulations under CBB Rulebook – Volume 7 as part of a larger initiative to simplify and revise all the CBB Rulebook Volumes. The new CIU regulations are now combined under a single Module making it simpler and market friendly. They are largely principles-based leaving room for the industry to pave the way for building a sound funds ecosystem thereby boosting growth of the asset management industry.”

Mr. Musab Abdulla, Executive Director of Investment Development – Financial Services, Technology & Innovation – at the Bahrain Economic Development Board, said, “Bahrain’s forward-looking regulations have always been a key competitive advantage that enabled our financial sector to expand and has always attracted new FS companies. These revised regulations are another step forward which will enable us to attract further investments into the Kingdom, in line with the strategies put forward under the Economic Recovery Plan.”

Ms. Najla Al Shirawi, Chief Executive Officer of SICO B.S.C. (c), has also commented on the enhanced regulations stating that “The updated collective investment undertaking regulations are a game-changer for local, regional, and global funds seeking an international jurisdiction to domicile their structures with a very flexible framework yet still within a solid regulatory environment overseen by the Central Bank of Bahrain.   Some of the benefits of these regulations include significantly reduced setup and ongoing processes which reduce operating costs, all factors that are prominent decision-making criteria in a manager’s choice of domicile.  Furthermore, the simplification of the regulations simultaneously provides a lot more flexibility on key fund terms including asset class, investor categories, service provider requirements and legal structure”

Mr. Brian Howard, Partner and Head of the International Funds Team at Trowers & Hamlins said “Following market consultation, the Central Bank of Bahrain’s new collective investment undertakings regulations offer speed, simplicity and flexibility and should make Bahrain the leading jurisdiction of choice in the region for the establishment of investment funds. Bahrain now makes a wide spectrum of investment fund structures available to prospective managers following a simplified notification process to the Central Bank of Bahrain.”

• Arla Foods’s yearly production has increased from 20,000 tonnes to 80,000, producing Puck and Kraft processed cheese and sterilised cream products

This content was published on Construction Week.

Arla Foods, European dairy cooperative, completed its $63mn production site expansion in Bahrain, to increase capacity as part of its long-term plan for the country.

Yearly production has increased from 20,000 tonnes to 80,000, producing Puck and Kraft processed cheese and sterilised cream products with 95% of volumes distributed to the MENA region.

CEO of Arla Foods, Peder Tuborgh, called it a ‘gamechanger for our MENA (Middle East and North Africa) business’ when he announced the acquisition of the production site in 2018.

He added: “We have a growing business in MENA and has as such clearly identified it as one of our core markets in our latest five-year strategy, Future26. Bahrain and the site in Manama play a key role in our plans and it’s with great pleasure that we now see the site running at full capacity and delivering on its potential.

“A massive thank you to the team on the ground and the many partners involved in this project that made this possible.”

Immediately after taking over the plant from previous owner Mondelez International, substantial plans for increasing capacity were initiated and the site is now delivering on its full potential.

Arla’s site expansion drives local impact

With the completion of the site in Manama, Arla Foods has moved parts of its production to Bahrain with subsequent benefits of improved product shelf-life, minimised costs for transportation, and product development from the on-site pilot plant.

Contributing positively to the local development has been a key focus area throughout the process and as a result of the investment 200 direct jobs and approx. the same number of indirect jobs have been created.

Tuborgh added: “This project is a great example of strong cooperation by everyone involved and working closely together with local partners, including Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, and the Economic Development Board has played an integral part in making it a reality.

“We are grateful for the welcoming nature of the Bahraini people and are excited about what the future brings for Arla Foods in Bahrain,”

Arla’s investing in a greener future

The latest update to the site in Manama includes a $1.3mn investment in green energy with 8,000m2 of solar cells making it one of the biggest solar power plants in Bahrain.

This renewable energy source has a capacity of 1,7 megawatt and produces approximately 20% of the site’s yearly energy consumption while also reducing its overall CO2 impact by 1,600 tonnes per year.

• This is a result of a joint initiative between talabat, Ministry of Labor and Social Development, Tamkeen and the Bahrain Economic Development Board
• The center will generate 1,000 employment opportunities for Bahrainis over two years with the support of tamkeen.
• The center will serve talabat customers in the region

Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain — ** March, 2022: talabat, the region’s leading local tech organization, today announced in a press conference under the patronage of H.E Jameel Bin Mohamed Ali Humaidan; Minister of Labour and Social Development, the establishment of one of the region’s largest shared services centers, which will be based in Bahrain, with the support from Tamkeen and Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB).

The announcement was made during a press conference attended by H.E. Jameel Humaidan Minister of Labour and Social Development, H.E. Khalid Humaidan CE of Economic Development Board, Mr. Husain Rajab CE of Tamkeen, Mr. Tomaso Rodriguez CEO of talabat MENA, and Mr. Hesham AlSaati Managing Director of talabat Bahrain.

The center will provide exceptional customer service to talabat customers in the GCC region, in both Arabic and English, along with providing technical support around the clock to vendors available on the platform. This is a result of a joint initiative between talabat, Tamkeen and the Bahrain Economic Development Board and it will generate 1,000 employment opportunities for Bahrainis over a 24 months period with 400 jobs to be filled as soon as July 2022. This will include several administrative, supervisory and leadership positions in the areas of customer service, quality assurance, and training.

This center will provide attractive opportunities for Bahraini graduates in the technology sector, as talabat is one of the largest companies operating in this field in the region. In addition, it will provide an opportunity to gain experience in dealing with clients from all over the region, and provide equal opportunities for training and development for all employees.

H.E Mr. Jameel Ben Mohamed Ali Humaidan, Minister of Labour and Social Development congratulated “talabat” on launching its local shared services center to support their clients and stakeholders, which will provide many jobs with progressive career plans, and assured that launching this center reflects the success of the Kingdom of Bahrain to attract more foreign investments due to its stimulating investment environment.

He highlighted that the establishment of this center is part of talabat’s efforts to expand its business in Bahrain and providing more jobs for the locals, as the organization is creating 400 jobs this year, and 1000 jobs in total by the end of 2023 in different positions, praising the efforts of the company in employing citizens, highlighting the high percentage of Bahraini management at the company as it has reached 100%.

H.E. Mr. Jameel Humaidan also highlighted all the incentives that the Ministry of Labour and social development provides to the private sector specifically to employ Bahrainis, emphasizing that the national talents have proven themselves as one on the main elements of companies development and profitability, due to the high efficiency of the Bahraini staff and their perpetual quest for personal development.

Tomaso Rodriguez, CEO of talabat said: “We selected Bahrain as the ideal place to launch our customer service center because of the talented pool of qualified and creative talent, along with the Kingdom’s attractive investment environment. We are heavily invested in Bahrainisation, with above 70% of our office employees being Bahraini, and we are proud to grow the technical expertise of the Kingdom’s youth.”

“From an investment perspective, Bahrain’s business friendly environment would support our growth and development plans.”

Hesham Al Saati, Managing Director at talabat Bahrain also expressed his pride in bringing this project to the Kingdom.

“It is our pleasure to establish one of the largest regional local shared services centers in Bahrain. Bahraini youth have proven to have an energy capable of excelling in the technical areas, and we are confident that this move will help talabat in its efforts to provide a higher quality service to our customers and vendors” Al Saati added.

“The technical sector is growing worldwide, and in Bahrain in particular launching this center will contribute to increasing this prosperity, diversifying and increasing the expertise in the technical field among Bahraini youth,” he said.

H.E. Husain Mohamed Rajab, said: “Tamkeen is fully committed to realizing its key objectives, including making Bahrainis the preferred choice for private sector employment and making the private sector the engine of economic growth. We work very closely with all our partners in the Team Bahrain ecosystem to encourage and incentivize employment, training and investment across all sectors, with a great focus on high-potential sectors. We welcome Talabat’s expansion in Bahrain and their great commitment to supporting employment and growth for Bahrainis over the long-term.”

Bahrain EDB CE, H.E Khalid Humaidan said: “This project is aligned with the Kingdom economic recovery plan and its pillars as it will generate employment and training opportunities in Bahrain. This also reflects our ability in Bahrain to provide professional services at a regional and a global level.” 

talabat is the leading food delivery and q-commerce platform in the region, with over 25,000 vendors and nearly 50,000 branches of these brands throughout the region. The company operates in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar, in addition to the United Arab Emirates.

talabat continues its continuous endeavor to provide more opportunities for Bahraini youth in the company, as it plans to offer 500 jobs in the logistics sector, which will make the total jobs created by talabat for Bahrainis is 1500 by the end of 2023.

Customers can download the talabat app from Google Play Store the iOS App Store, and Huawei App Gallery.

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About talabat

When you think of food delivery in the MENA region, we’d be pretty surprised if talabat didn’t pop into your mind first! Since delivering our first order in Kuwait in 2004, we’ve grown quite a lot over the past 17 years into the leading local tech platform in the region.

We deliver hundreds of millions of food orders, grocery items and other products per year, to our customers in nine countries throughout the region. Our food delivery business works with well over 25,000 brands and almost 50,000 branches, while our q-commerce concept, talabat mart, now delivers groceries to customers in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman Qatar, and the UAE in many cases, 20 minutes or less!

Our customers, our partners, our people, our riders, and the communities in which we operate are at the heart of what we do. In 2021 alone, we facilitated the donation of well over 900,000 meals to those in need, as well as donated over 2.2million dollars to charity with the help of our partners and customers. talabat is part of Delivery Hero, the global leader in online food delivery and q-commerce.