Bahrain has been ranked among the top-10 most improved economies in the world in this year’s Doing Business 2020 report, up 19 places to 43rd place since last year in the World Bank’s assessment of 190 countries.
The Ministers of Finance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the State of Kuwait…
4 | the publication reaches you by | Bahrain NewsAs part of its Economic Vision 2030, Bahrain has implemented a comprehensive economic reform programme, making it easier to do business in nine areas measured in the Doing Business ranking, which evaluates a number of vital indicators of various commercial activities.
In 2018, Bahrain recorded an annual real GDP growth rate of 2.2 per cent as well as 3 percent growth in non-oil sectors.
Commenting on the news, Zayed R. Alzayani, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism said:
“We welcome the recognition of Bahrain as one of the top ten most improved economies in the world in this year’s Doing Business 2020 report by the World Bank. The tireless efforts of Team Bahrain, which is made up of the Executive Authority, Legislative Authority, Judicial branches, private sector, and NGOs, has been acknowledged globally. Although being recognized among the top ten most improved economies internationally is in itself an honour for Bahrain and its people, we stress that our aspirations do not stop here. We will continue developing our economic programmes and initiatives and capitalising on the opportunities offered to us by regional growth. We aspire to further develop and strengthen our economy by enhancing our economic diversification efforts, and by improving Bahrain’s business environment in order to provide opportunities for both local and foreign investors.”
In the Doing Business Report 2020, the World Bank identified Bahrain as having made the following reforms: Bahrain has made enforcing contracts easier by creating a specialised commercial court, establishing time standards for key court events, and allowing electronic service of the summons.
Getting credit: Bahrain strengthened access to credit by giving secured creditors absolute priority during insolvency proceedings.
During reorganisation proceedings, creditors are also now subject to an automatic stay that is limited in time with clear grounds for relief.
Protecting minority investors: Bahrain strengthened the protection of minority investors by clarifying ownership and control structures. Resolving insolvency: Bahrain made resolving insolvency easier by introducing a reorganisation procedure, allowing debtors to initiate the reorganisation procedure, adding provisions on post commencement financing, and improving voting arrangements.
Trading across borders: Bahrain made exporting across borders faster by deploying new scanners powered by artificial intelligence.
This system is currently being used at the King Fahad Causeway. The new scanners have the capacity to seamlessly screen 120 export trucks per hour.
Dealing with construction permits: Bahrain has made obtaining construction permits easier by further streamlining the application process through the new building permit portal ‘Benayat’, which delegates the application review processes to licensed engineering firms. This has reduced the time to obtain a construction permit drastically from 174 days to 71 days.
Getting electricity: Bahrain made the process of getting electricity easier by investing in digitization and transparency of information and by improving its inspection and installation process.
These reforms have reduced the number of days it takes to connect to the national electricity grid from 85 to 69 days.
Registering property: Bahrain has made property registration easier by streamlining administrative procedures and improving the quality of the land administrative system, reducing the number of days required to register a property from 31 to two days.
Paying taxes: Bahrain has made paying taxes easier by implementing electronic payment of social insurance contributions.
ONE of the largest jewellery retailers, Malabar Gold and Diamonds, has launched a special collection of diamond and…
10 | the publication reaches you by | Bahrain News
Do you have information you want to reach our readers?
You can subscribe to our Facebook, Twitter and Google pages or use our RSS feed channel to always read the most important news about Bahrain, the Gulf and the world.
The Arab states of the Persian Gulf are the seven Arab states which border the Persian Gulf, namely Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).This excludes the non-Arab state of Iran. All of these nations except Iraq are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
