Bahrain : His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Economic Development Board (EDB), today remotely chaired the EDB board meeting. Bahrain’s economic progress was discussed in light of the exceptional circumstances imposed by the COVID 19.
His Royal Highness highlighted the importance of continuing joint efforts to achieve the Kingdom’s economic recovery goals aimed at further creating opportunities to support the national economy and enhance the Kingdom’s competitiveness in accordance with the visions and aspirations of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
His Royal Highness highlighted the successful efforts of Team Bahrain, which has thus far supported the Kingdom’s economic development plans. HRH also noted the EDB’s contribution to attracting investments into Bahrain, which assists with diversifying the economy, boosting economic growth, and supporting economic recovery.
HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad commended the public and private sectors for their contribution to Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 and noted the support provided by The Legislative Authority.
His Royal Highness stressed the importance of creating promising opportunities for citizens, a priority of The Economic Recovery Plan, which must be kept in mind when attracting development projects.
The Chief Executive of the EDB, HE Khalid Humaidan presented the board with the latest economic indicators and the EDB’s efforts to attract investments.
Bahrain continues to be amongst the fastest-growing economies in the GCC. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated a GDP growth rate of 2.4% in 2021 and expects a 3.1% GDP growth in 2022. This growth is mainly driven by non-oil GDP which is forecasted to grow by 5% in 2022 compared to 3.2% in 2021, according to the Ministry of Finance and National Economy.
Foreign Direct Investments “FDI” in Bahrain grew by US $1billion in 2020, while FDI stock relative to GDP in Bahrain stood at 91% – almost double the world average of 49%.
In 2021 the EDB supported 86 successful projects with a three-year projected value of US $839million direct investment, which is expected to create 4,861 jobs. These investments are headquartered in over 22 countries. Of these direct investments, 63% were greenfield.
