Bahrain's Edamah unveils rental waiver for F&B, retail tenants

Bahrain Real Estate Investment Company (Edamah), the property investment arm of the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, has announced that it has issued a waiver for all its food and beverage (F&B) and retail tenants for the month of March.

The move is in response to the global Covid-19 pandemic and as an "empathetic gesture of goodwill", the company said in a statement.

It comes after Bahrain announced the first coronavirus-related death in the Gulf region. The country has so far reported more than 200 infections.

Edamah said it is maintaining its commitment to serve its tenants, implementing measures to minimise the adverse business effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which particularly affect the F&B and retail sectors, and will reappraise the situation in due course.

Edamah CEO Amin Alarrayed said: “We see it as our duty at Edamah to work alongside our tenants to offer much needed support during this difficult time. For this reason, and as a gesture of goodwill, be are issuing a one-month moratorium on the rents of our F&B and retail tenants, to mitigate any business downturn.

"We will be closely monitoring the situation and want to reassure our tenants that their continued success is of the utmost importance to us. As such, we will reappraise the situation after this period with the business health of our F&B tenants in mind.”