Considered one of the most crucial steps toward enhancing economic and trade relations between Bahrain and France, the Bahrain Economic Development Board-Bahrain EDB-embarks on a very important three-day strategic visit to France. Chaired by Her Excellency Noor bint Ali Alkhulaif, the Honorable Minister of Sustainable Development, Chief Executive of Bahrain EDB, supported by the participation of senior figures from the island nation’s investment promotion agency, this strategic visit. The agenda has been power-packed with events engineered and strategy meetings to especially highlight Bahrain’s strong prospects for growth in certain key sectors, including financial services and tourism.
Bahrain has continued to act like a gateway to the Gulf and has given good access to the wider MENA area. This mission also includes Bahrain EDB’s strategically located global offices, which also include one in Paris, integral elements in positioning Bahrain as the best place to invest. With strong support from Bahrain’s head office, the Paris office will also provide great market intelligence, strategic connections, and insights tailored for French businesses that need to understand or explore the MENA opportunities.
Minister Noor bint Ali Alkhulaif articulated Bahrain’s aspirations succinctly when she stated, “Bahrain stands at the forefront of economic opportunity, leveraging its established heritage of being a dynamic hub of investment with its forward-looking policies. Our strategic location, robust infrastructure, and bilingual talent pool continue to position our island nation as an ideal destination for international investors. We are looking forward to a partnership with French businesses in different sectors to feed innovative synergies in growth.” Its value proposition remains uniquely antedated with enormous particular adherences like those in financial services, manufacturing, logistics, ICT and tourism. All these benefits are accompanied by a distinct innovation investment ecosystem that would let any international company do easy business starting and scaling up operations in the country.
“French investments have accounted for a total of about USD 322 million in Bahrain, a small island that boasts many leading French companies such as NextCare, Fives Solios, Thales, Accor, Egis International, and Veolia. Most importantly, a 53% increase in the value of non-oil trade between Bahrain and France-from USD 334 million in 2019 to over USD 512 million in 2023-shows that there is great potential for further growth.
Bahrain keeps its goal to be a top investment destination alive. In place of this, Bahrain will place business policies and favorable conditions of doing business for the purpose of drawing and nurturing success-holding native-with global significance. One of the differentiating factors is Bahrain’s diverse, bilingual, and highly skilled talent pool, which continues to draw global investors to its shores consistently.
Looking back at 2024, Bahrain EDB has already achieved an impressive feat by attracting USD 1.056 billion in direct investment from a total of 62 local and international projects in the initial nine months. Remarkably, 60% of these expenditures are growth projects, and a noteworthy 40% are new endeavors. Over 5,400 new jobs are expected to be created by these investments combined over the next three years.
Bahrain’s commitment to strengthening economic connections and opening up new growth avenues is reaffirmed as the delegation from the Bahrain EDB continues its strategic visit to France. Bahrain aims to strengthen its links with various French commercial sectors in order to ensure a future full of mutual prosperity and shared economic success.
