Bahrain’s Economic Development Board (EDB) attracted $98 million (BHD37 million) worth of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) from 14 prominent international companies in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector in the first 3 quarters of 2022.
These investments are expected to create over 770 jobs to help achieve the objectives of the island kingdom’s economic recovery plan, EDB said in a statement.
Under the economic recovery plan, the kingdom launched a 4-year telecommunications, ICT, and digital economy sector strategy (2022-2026) earlier this year.
The strategy included development of telecommunications infrastructure, supporting the digital economy, enhancing e-governance and developing digital capacity.
The strategy aims at improving the kingdom’s overall global position in the e-participation index of the UN eGovernment Survey, establishing a world-class digital infrastructure, and increasing the efficiency of government services through e-transformation.
Musab Abdullah, Executive Director of Investment Development – ICT at the Bahrain Economic Development Board, said: “We are pleased to see more and more ICT companies calling Bahrain home for their regional operations”.
“As a result of the government’s vision to position the kingdom as a regional leader in ICT, and a regional hub for ICT industries such as gaming and internationally connected data centers, today Bahrain is ranked first in MENA for ICT readiness by the UN“, EDB said.
The ICT sector, a major pillar in the kingdom’s economy, generates large numbers of high-value jobs, of which 59 percent of jobs are held by Bahraini nationals.
The sector contributed 6.8 percent to Bahrain’s real GDP at the end of Q4 2021.
Overall, Bahrain EDB attracted FDI to the tune of $921 million (BHD348 million) from 66 companies during the first nine months of 2022.
The investments are expected to generate over 4,700 jobs over the next three years in key sectors, including financial services, ICT, logistics, manufacturing, and tourism.
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