A high-level Bahraini delegation led by the Minister of Industry and Commerce, H.E. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, has headed to India to engage with key government officials, businesses, and business associations. The delegation, which is organised with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Bahrain Economic Development Board will highlight investment opportunities in Bahrain across priority sectors, namely financial services, manufacturing, ICT, logistics and tourism, in line with the national Economic Recovery Plan.

The delegation includes 63 members from various public and private sector entities, namely the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibition Authority, Export, alongside representatives from leading Bahraini businesses and societies. 

Starting in New Delhi from March 14 to March 15, the delegation will participate in the 2023 Partnership Summit accompanied by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and meet with several ministers, including H.E. Mr. Piyush Goyal Minister of Commerce of India, and H.E Mr. Shri Narayan Tatu Rane the Minister of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises in India. The delegation will also be meeting with Mr. Arun Chawla, Director General of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).

Moving onto Mumbai on March 16 to March 17, the members of the delegation will meet with representatives from multiple businesses and potential investors to highlight the Kingdom’s value proposition. Bahrain’s delegation will additionally host two networking events with Bombay Chamber and CII.

Commenting on the trip, H.E. Abdulla Fakhro, said: “Bahrain and India have always maintained close ties going as far back as over 5000 years ago. India is considered one of Bahrain’s top trading partners, with exports from Bahrain to India increasing at around 12% per year between 2018 to 2022. Last year, bilateral trade between both nations reached USD1.4 billion.”

H.E. added: “This trip is a great opportunity for us to explore strategic business and investment opportunities for the mutual benefit of the economies of both nations and we look forward to meeting strategic stakeholders from various entities in India.”

As of Q3 of 2022, inward FDI stocks of India to Bahrain reached USD1.4 billion, accounting for around 4% of Bahrain’s total FDI stock of USD33.9 billion. Under the Economic Recovery Plan, Bahrain aims to attract USD2.5 billion of FDI to the country by 2023.

Malca-Amit, one of the world’s leading logistics providers in the field of transportation and storage of high-value goods, has inaugurated its first regional office in Bahrain to begin operations with a niche offering that will further add value to the growth of the logistics services in the Kingdom and the greater region. With a global team of 1,500+ members in over 20 locations across the world, Malca-Amit offers comprehensive services for high-value goods. Its global vaulting facilities are situated in Bangkok, Singapore, Zurich, Toronto, London, New York, and Hong Kong.

Malca-Amit provides services in logistics, secure storage and transportation, customs brokerage, and special operations for high-net-worth individuals, international banks, and companies in the luxury goods industry. Malca-Amit Bahrain will offer multiple services out of Bahrain to serve local and regional clients, including door-to-door services, high-net-worth personal vaulting storage and jewellery and precious items storage.  The launch of Malca-Amit Bahrain is expected to contribute to the Kingdom achieving the outlined goals of the Logistics Services Sector strategy under the Economic Recovery Plan, which aims to reach an annual airfreight volume of 1 million metric tonnes.

The exclusive office for Malca-Amit Bahrain will be located in the Awal Private terminal, the Kingdom’s first international airport that operated during the 1960s and 1970s, which currently serves VIP and private airline passengers. As for the main headquarters of Malca-Amit, it will be strategically located at the Cargo Complex in the Bahrain International Airport (BIA).  

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Aaron Hocheberg of Malca-Amit said: “We carefully analysed the regional market and Bahrain was the ideal choice for the launch of our operations in view of its strategic location and competitive operating costs. We’re very excited to launch our operations in Bahrain, and it will enable us to serve our exclusive clients in Bahrain and the rest of the region.”

Ahmed Sultan, Executive Director of Business Development for Logistics at the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) said: “The presence of a global logistics company like Malca-Amit in Bahrain will contribute to enhancing the value proposition of our logistics services sector, which will support sustainable economic growth and further position Bahrain as one of the top global destinations for logistic services.”

As part of the national Economic Recovery Plan, Bahrain’s Logistics Services Sector Strategy (2022 – 2026) aims to position the Kingdom as one of the top 20 global destinations for logistics services, and increase the logistics services sector’s contribution to GDP to 10% in 2030.

The launch of Malca-Amit comes on the heels of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in February 2022 with the Bahrain Institute for Pearls and Gemstones (Danat), a laboratory and scientific research centre specialising in natural pearl and gemstones third party verification services, seeking to preserve and advance Bahrain’s vast pearling heritage. Through the agreement Malca-Amit will offer access to a global distribution network for Danat’s diamonds and natural pearls.

In 2022, the Kingdom of Bahrain scored high on a vast number of global rankings and reports for business environment, foreign direct investment and talent, affirming the Kingdom’s keenness to enhance its competitive investment environment on regional and global levels, in line with the priorities and objectives of the Kingdom’s Economic Recovery Plan.

The Kingdom ranked first in MENA for financial freedom, investment freedom, and trade freedom (Heritage Foundation – Index of Economic Freedom 2022), as well as economic freedom (The Fraser Institute – Economic Freedom of the World 2022). Bahrain also topped the GCC for effective regulations (The Fraser Institute – Economic Freedom of the World 2022), a testament to its forward-looking regulatory framework.

Additionally, the Kingdom ranked 1^st in the GCC for the stocks of inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) relative to 2021 GDP according to The Information & eGovernment Authority, which stood at 85% of Bahrain’s GDP. It also ranked 11^th globally for FDI Greenfield projects (FDI Intelligence of the Financial Times – Greenfield FDI Performance Index Report 2022).

In 2022, the Bahrain EDB, supported by Team Bahrain, attracted over USD1.1 billion of direct investment, a record year for the Kingdom’s investment promotion agency. The investments are from 89 investment projects and are expected to generate over 6,300 jobs in the local market over the next three years. The investments focus on priority sectors, including financial services, ICT, logistics, manufacturing, and tourism.

Commenting on Bahrain’s achievements in 2022, Nada Al-Saeed, Chief of Strategy at the Bahrain EDB, said: “Bahrain’s rankings are a testament to its attractiveness to global investors looking to tap into our region. We’re happy to see the Kingdom top regional and global rankings, resulting from the governments’ continual strides to build a competitive business-friendly environment and attract more direct investment into the country, in line with the objectives set under Bahrain’s Economic Recovery Plan.”

Nada Al-Saeed noted that the Telecommunications, Information and Communications technology  (ICT) and Digital Economy Sector Strategy (2022-20260), which comes as part of developing priority sectors under the Economic Recovery Plan, aims to improve the Kingdom’s overall global position in the e-Participation index of the United Nations (UN) eGovernment Survey. In addition, the Logistics Services Sector Strategy works toward positioning Bahrain as one of the top 20 global destinations for logistics services.

Dr. Faisal Isa Hammad, Assistant Undersecretary of Competitiveness & Economic Indicators at the Ministry of Finance & National Economy, noted the importance of Bahrain’s first-ever ranking in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, which assesses the efficiency of countries in managing their resources to achieve economic prosperity. He highlighted that the Kingdom has been ranked amongst the top ten countries in 56 indicators that measure various fields.

The Ministry of Finance and National Economy closely monitors Bahrain’s ranking in global reports, and conducts detailed analyses and in-depth studies to identify strengths as well as opportunities for improvement in relevant fields.  

“These reports help in making data-driven recommendations that are in line with global best practices in order to enhance economic policy. Our team tracks Bahrain’s performance on reputable global reports that evaluate Bahrain’s competitiveness in various sectors, such as business environment, innovation, finance, regulations, policy-making, and human capital,” Dr. Faisal Isa Hammad remarked.

“The data analysis process then contributes to creating initiatives and reforms that have a positive impact on Bahrain’s economy. In order to develop leading policies, we take into account the best global standards and practices implemented in different countries across the world, while also analysing their relevance within the legislative system and culture in the Kingdom,” he added. It is worth noting that Bahrain has also achieved global rankings for the following: 1^st for female digital skills training and STEM education plan (The Economist Impact and Meta – The Inclusive Internet Index 2022), 3^rd for women with degrees, 5^th for skilled labour, and 7^th for finance skills (IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2022).

– The 135 million USD JV operations started with two aircrafts and plans are on track to deploy up to five by the end of the year –

Southeast Asia’s leading air cargo charter services provider, the Asia Cargo Network (ACN) group, and MENA Aerospace, a Bahraini aviation services provider, announced the start of their operations in the MENA region from the Kingdom of Bahrain.

As part of its growth plan, ACN placed an investment worth 135 million USD to become the biggest shareholder in MAE Aircraft Management (the aircraft and management division of MENA Aerospace) with a 49% stake during the 2022 edition of the Bahrain International Airshow. The partnership operations will be under the MENA Cargo brand, the freight cargo subsidiary of MAE, and will be fully managed by ACN moving forward as it holds an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) in Bahrain which allows for the expansion of routes to the MENA region.

The ACN-MEA strategic partnership deployed two units of B737-300F aircraft that are currently in operations across the MENA continents connecting the GCC and Africa. The Bahraini operator says that plans are on track to end the year with five additional freighter aircraft made up of few units of B737-800F and B767-300F aircraft that will provide the connectivity between the Middle East, Africa, all of Asia and European markets.

These long-range wide-body B767-300F aircraft will increase Bahrain airport’s cargo activities with transshipments from all over the world before regional distribution is performed with the operator’s own narrow-body freighters. The partnership is targeting to become the main cargo operator and develop extensive network cargo flights within the region to support the growing demands and enhance Bahrain airport’s presence as a regional hub.

On this occasion, Iman Marco, MAE Aircraft Management – Managing Director commented: “We are excited to start our MENA operations in Bahrain. The Kingdom’s advanced infrastructure and its strategic location at the crossroads between Asia, Africa, and Europe will play a vital role in ACN’s growth plans to expand and serve our customers in the MENA region and beyond.”

Ahmed Sultan, Executive Director for Business Development of Manufacturing, Transport and Logistics at Bahrain Economic Development Board said: “We are pleased to see key transport and logistics players call Bahrain home to benefit from the Kingdom’s competitive advantages such as our free trade agreements with 22 countries, best-value operating costs for a logistics business in the region, superb infrastructure, and strong connectivity by air, land and sea.”

The logistics sector is a priority sector under the Kingdom’s Economic Recovery Plan, which aims to position Bahrain as one of the top 20 global destinations for logistic services and increase the sector’s GDP contribution in 2030 to 10 percent from 4.7% percent.