SMEs represent 99.3 pc of local firms: Minister

Small-to-Medium Enterprise (SMEs) are vital to the growth of Bahrain’s economy, said Industry Minister adding that they represent “99.3 per cent of the total number of local companies” in the Kingdom. Speaking, on the sidelines of World Investment Forum in Geneva, Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Zayed bin Rashid Alzayani, said that Bahrain’s SMEs Development Board aims to strengthen Startups and SMEs capacities to boost their competitiveness in domestic, regional and global markets.

The SMEs board, formed based on the directives of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, The Crown Prince, and Chairman of the Economic Development Board, focuses on increasing the current figures of SMEs contribution to the GDP (30pc), SMEs exports (8pc) and national employment levels (64pc of private sector employment).” He was speaking during a Ministerial Roundtable on “Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development on the sidelines of World Investment Forum in Geneva.

The growth and expansion of SMEs, the Minister said, are constrained by challenges and obstacles including access to finance, physical infrastructure, level of technology, regulatory framework, access to information and advice as well as environmental issues. The minister confirmed: “Bahrain has a healthy economic diversification strategy, enabling the non-oil sector to achieve a growth of 5 per cent in 2017, with Financial Services, Manufacturing, Transport and Logistics leading the growth.”

“Bahrain also encourages innovation through its supportive approach for Startups, combined with being a leading financial hub, we introduced the FinTech Regulatory Sandbox in mid-2017, which allows entrepreneurs to test and fine-tune their tech-based ideas on customers before they are released to the market,” he added. The next Global Entrepreneurship Congress will be held Bahrain on April 15-18, 2019, gathering thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers and other startup champions from more than 170 countries.