Parliament to debate industrial development fund amid government concerns

TDT | Manama

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

A push to fund a new industrial body using Mumtalakat profits and public money comes before Parliament on Tuesday, as the Government warns of legal risks, overlap, and lack of feasibility studies.

MPs are set to vote on a bill to establish the Industrial Development Fund, a public inst i t u t i o n w i t h f i n a n c i a l a n d administrative independence. The Fund would support Bahraini-owned factories, promote advanced production, and back sectors such as renewable energy, petrochemicals, green and blue hydrogen, manufacturing, and food, pharmaceutical, and micro-electronics industries.

The Government says similar roles already exist across the Economic Development Board, Tamkeen, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Bahrain Investors Centre, and Bahrain Development Bank, which handle investment, policy, start-ups, and finance. A new Fund, it argues, would duplicate existing work.

Funding is another concern. Article 16 proposes drawing from Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company’s profits and adding a state budget allocation. The Government warns that forcing Mumtalakat to finance an external body conflicts with its corporate objectives, blurs legal separation, and burdens the state budget without proper review.

Officials also point to the absence of economic, financial, and technical studies to assess value for money, funding sources, and risks. They stress any public finance initiative should be backed by clear analysis before new obligations are assumed.

The 21-article proposal empowers the Fund to offer longterm sharia- compliant loans and grants, finance feasibility studies, run specialist training centres, and commission sector research. It provides for a nine-member board and Chief Executive appointed by decree, conflict-of-interest rules, ministerial oversight, external audits, and financial disclosure for senior staff.

The bill originated with the Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission under constitutional and procedural provisions, which drafted the text and attached its legal opinion. The Government says it shares those observations and is exploring alternative ways to achieve the same goals within current law without overlapping existing institutions.