H.E. Khalid Humaidan, Chief Executive of Bahrain Economic Development Board (Bahrain EDB), received H.E. Eng. Khalid Abdulaziz Al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Investment, for a meeting during the Minister’s official visit to Bahrain. The visit comes in line with the ongoing efforts to maintain cooperative and collaborative economic ties between the two Kingdoms.

During the meeting, H.E. Khalid Humaidan highlighted the vital role of Bahrain EDB in attracting direct investment across the priority sectors outlined in the Bahrain Economic Recovery Plan (ERP), announced in 2021, which work towards further diversifying the Kingdom of Bahrain’s economy.

Additionally, the Chief Executive elaborated on the mandate of Bahrain EDB of enhancing the overall investment climate to drive sustainable economic growth.

The meeting also discussed potential areas of cooperation across the priority sectors, namely financial services, manufacturing, logistics, information and communications technology (ICT), and tourism; and respective strategic projects in line with ERP. As of 2022, Saudi Arabia’s FDI stock in Bahrain reached $9.1 billion, making up 26% of total FDI, which totals up to approximately USD 35.4 billion. During 2022, Bahrain EDB attracted over USD 1.1 billion, which is projected to create over 6,000 new jobs in the Kingdom over the next three years. In line with the ERP, the Kingdom continues to innovate its regulatory framework to create a more robust, conducive business environment and streamlined processes to achieve over USD 2.5 billion in direct investment between 2022-2023.