Government to focus more on economic diversification

Manama : Top ministers and government officials shared their thoughts and ideas about the progress and development of Bahrain in recent years during the Government Forum 2017, which was held at Isa Cultural Centre yesterday.

High-ranking Government officials spoke with high optimism when speaking about the progress made in the development of Bahrain in recent years. They said that Bahrain’s economy has been resilient despite the many challenges it has faced. Progress made in previous decades have given a strong foundation for Bahrain to develop, said Cabinet Affairs Minister Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al Mutawa.

“Each phase of Bahrain’s development has been an important one. In the sixties it was the phase for the establishment of political and economic system. In the seventies the focus was more on infrastructure and Bahrain’s Constitution. In the eighties and nineties it was the continuation of development of infrastructure and development of public services. Today we are in a new phase, we have a clear vision from His Majesty the King,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa stressed the importance of diversification. “Bahrain’s government has always looked at the ways of diversification of the economy. Now we have to focus on it even more because of the circumstances we are facing because of the instability of the oil prices. Therefore income should be diversified, we have placed programmes for this and we hope to achieve them,” he said.

When asked about the development of beaches in Bahrain, Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed Al Zayani said that development of 12 beaches is in the pipeline. “Yes we will focus on development of beaches, we have proposed to the government about the development of beaches in 12 places. We will focus on four places in the beginning. We have finished with the master plan now we are at a stage of sending tenders to start the project.”

Minister of Works, Municipalities and Urban Planning Essam bin Abdulla Khalaf said the expansion of the Bahrain International airport will make it three to four times bigger. 

“We hope to finish the project during the third quarter of 2019. The airport project will help development of other sectors and not just the logistics sector,” he said. 

Khalid Al Rumaihi, Chief Executive of EDB said that growth of investment coming into the economy this year is expected to be in record breaking levels.“It’s very important that we understand  the importance of investment. Bahrain, since the sixties, has been diversifying the economy and in recent years the non-oil revenues has accounted for 80 per cent of the economy. It is evident how investments have diversified the economy.  Bahrain has become a competitive force in the financial, industrial, logistics, tourism, technology and telecommunication,” he said.

“This year will be a record breaking year in terms of the expected growth of investment. We are on track to achieve 160 per cent of what we achieved last year. The future plan is not only to attract capital but also technology, skills, and international companies. There is no doubt there will be a leap in the world in terms of technology and how it effects all sectors,” he said.