Bahrain-India trade and economic ties burgeon

Manama : Bahrain- India bilateral trade and economic relations will reach new heights if the upward trend demonstrated in the latest trade figures persist; India –Bahrain trade in April 2015- March 2016 period surpassed one billion US dollars. 

Alok Kumar Sinha, Ambassador of India revealed this figures in a media interaction yesterday, organised by Bahrain India Society (BIS) to discuss the trends and future prospects of India-Bahrain economic ties.

The total trade between the two countries was showing a declining  trend since 2011, from US$1.3 billion and clocked only US$919 million in 2014-‘15 period. But, the period from 2006 to 2011, which saw big jump in trade relations between the two countries, were characterised by the dominance of hydrocarbon sector. The recent resurgence in trade volume, interestingly, is based on non-oil sector. Financial services, real estate, plastics, and automotive components are major contributors to the current uptrend, according to BIS officials.

The event was graced by the presence of BIS officials, including Abdulnabi Al Sho’ala, Founder Chairman, Mohammed Dadabhai, Chairman, Raj Damani, Vice Chairman, Ebrahim Al Ameer, Board member and VK Thomas, Secretary.

“Indian business community’s age-old legacy with Bahrain and its fledgling entrepreneurial business community will provide the much needed soft infrastructure for mutual growth and benefit,” Mr. Sinha said.

“Bahrain’s economy has been growing despite all the bad news on the oil front and most of the growth came from non-oil sectors, and this should be applauded” according to BIS Chairman Mohammed Dadabhai.

Investment from India to Bahrain has also gone above one billion US dollars and a quarter of this investment was attracted by the financial services sector. A few Bahraini businesses have also shown interest in investment in India in the manufacturing sector to take advantage of the recent initiatives launched by the government of India, Make in India and Digital India.

BIS had mobilised a strong business delegation to accompany the Ministerial delegation from the Kingdom of Bahrain to the Make in India event held in February 2016 in Mumbai. Sinha added that India is making an all out effort to attract more investments and a new facility has been set up to encourage easy clearance of new projects.

Dadabhai noted that the strong project pipeline and promised investments for the Kingdom makes it a unique success story in the face of global and regional economic pressures.

Bahrain India Society office bearers also expressed confidence that the two countries have several mutual synergies and complementarities, and the Vision 2030 offers opportunities for Indian companies and investors. It also noted that the Kingdom’s role as a regional trading hub is re-emerging-offering opportunity for Indian traders.