Effects of the Crisis on Foreign Direct Investments and Industry in Bahrain

Salah Janahi, Director of Industrial Areas Directorate at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, discuses the impact of the crisis on industry in Bahrain.

According to Janahi, “In the industrial sector we haven’t felt any resistance because as I said we have received many land applications, and this indicator shows there continues to be a high demand for industrial land. The industrial sector is growing, we haven’t seen any kind of resistance, maybe in 2009 we had a bit of a slowdown but we are continuing to grow, and as I said, the number of applications we receive show that there is more and more demand for industrial land.”

On the other hand the number of applications is increasing. Gerry Sharkey,  Project Director at BIIP (Bahrain International Investment Park), adds that in the months following the 2011 crisis the park has seen one of the most important investments, ” In the week of the problems that happened here in February 2011, one of the biggest companies that has invested on this park made the final decision to go ahead and invest in this park. A couple of weeks earlier than that BASF, the biggest chemical company in the world, had decided to go ahead as well.” he adds.

“These investments are part of the substantial amount  in excess of 500 million Bahraini Dinars which is about US$ 1.7 billion. This is a very significant investment in any environment but to have it happen during that period was a major success for Bahrain. In 2012 we supported 22 projects to come onto this park, which brings the total to 88 allocated projects. These 22 new projects supported in 2012 were not put off by what happened here or by any other factor. We believe that in 2013 and hopefully onwards we will continue to get more investment.” Sharkey concludes.