Foreign investments in Bahrain on the rise

New foreign direct investment in Bahrain more than doubled in the first nine months of 2018 as the kingdom marketed itself as a base for companies to access the region, especially Saudi Arabia, data released showed yesterday.

Investment commitments between January and September jumped 138 per cent from a year ago to a record $810 million (Dh2.97 billion) from 76 firms, said the Economic Development Board, an investment promotion agency. That compared to $733 million in all of 2017, and was over five times the amount of FDI in 2015.

The rise in FDI is good news for Bahrain’s balance of payments, which has been under pressure as the kingdom runs fiscal and current account deficits fuelled by low oil prices.

The central bank’s net foreign reserves hit a one-year low of 499.4 million dinars ($1.32 billion; Dh4.82 billion) in July, although they rebounded to 734.2 million dinars last month.

Manufacturing and logistics accounted for most foreign investment in the first nine months of this year, the EDB said. Some companies are locating operations in Bahrain to take advantage of reforms in Saudi Arabia, which aims to develop nonoil industries such as mining, light manufacturing and tourism.

Bahrain also wants to become a centre for financial technology; last year it created a “regulatory sandbox” allowing companies in the field to experiment without facing normal regulatory constraints.