29,533 citizens employed in Bahrain job boom last year

TDT | Manama                                                       

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A total of 29,533 Bahrainis have benefited from job opportunities provided last year, exceeding by 48% the annual priority goal outlined in the Economic Recovery Plan (ERP) to employ 20,000 citizens annually until 2024.

About 11,078 citizens also received training during the year 2023, exceeding by 11% the initial priority goal included in the Economic Recovery Plan to train 10,000 Bahrainis annually until 2024.

These numbers were outlined in the presentation given by the Minister of Finance and National Economy, His Excellency Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, on the achievements of the Kingdom’s ERP.

This came during yesterday’s Bahrain Economic Development Board’s Board of Directors Meeting chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Prime Minister, and Chairman of the EDB, and held at its headquarters in Bahrain Bay.

His Royal Highness emphasised that the National Action Charter (NAC) constitutes a milestone in the history of the Kingdom’s national development, led by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

HRH the Crown Prince, Prime Minster, and Chairman of the Bahrain EDB, noted that, since the launch of the NAC, the Kingdom of Bahrain has demonstrated a distinguished record of achievements, and outlined the importance of building on these achievements to further growth and development across all sectors.

HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad highlighted the importance of further bolstering Bahrain’s position as a global investment destination by attracting investments across priority sectors, in line with the Kingdom’s economic diversification efforts.

HRH the Crown Prince, Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Bahrain EDB, went on to note the Kingdom’s wide-ranging achievements, led by the will and determination of Team Bahrain, who continue to support the Kingdom’s comprehensive development led by His Majesty the King.

Development Strategy

Touching on ongoing development strategies and plans, His Royal Highness highlighted Team Bahrain’s efforts alongside the Kingdom’s private sector in supporting the national economy and ensuring the Kingdom remains a top destination for investment across numerous sectors.

During the meeting, the EDB’s board reviewed its 2023 achievements and its goals for 2024, along with the most prominent global economic developments and strategies to attract investments across priority sectors, in line with the Kingdom’s far-reaching development goals.

His Royal Highness outlined that the promising investment opportunities facilitated by Team Bahrain, in addition to the Kingdom’s flexible and robust legislative system, have allowed for the advancement of development and diversification efforts, attracting investments that have exceeded the Kingdom’s set goals.

HRH Prince Salman expressed his appreciation for Team Bahrain’s relentless efforts to achieve the desired economic diversification goals across all sectors, which will in turn have a profound positive impact for the entire Kingdom.

Proud Achievements

His Royal Highness expressed his pride in the Kingdom’s achievements and developments across all sectors in conjunction with the Economic Recovery Plan and Bahrain Economic Vision 2030.

HRH the Crown Prince, Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Bahrain EDB, noted that the Kingdom of Bahrain has served and continues to serve and empower its citizens by creating promising opportunities across various fields per the principles and objectives of the Bahrain Economic Vision 2030.

HRH Prince Salman affirmed the Kingdom’s key economic indicators and other positive markers, all of which forecast a reassuring future for the Kingdom of Bahrain dictated by success and promising opportunities for its citizens.

His Royal Highness noted that each stage of development has certain requirements and the next stage requires resolve and determination from everyone to build on the previous successes and reach greater and more comprehensive achievements. This resolve is key for Bahrain to continue to be a pioneer in various fields, in line with the visions of His Majesty the King.

Key Figures

The Minister of Finance and National Economy, His Excellency Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, then gave a presentation on the achievements of the Kingdom’s Economic Recovery Plan.

The presentation outlined the total value of investments since the launch of the Economic Recovery Plan in 2021, which has reached more than $2.8 billion, exceeding the priority goal of simplifying and increasing the efficiency of commercial procedures by attracting an investment of $2.5 billion by 2023, outlined in the ERP.

29,533 Bahraini citizens benefited from job opportunities provided in the year 2023, exceeding by 48% the annual priority goal outlined in the Economic Recovery Plan to employ 20,000 Bahrainis annually until 2024. 11,078 citizens received training during the year 2023, exceeding by 11% the initial priority goal included in the Economic Recovery Plan to train 10,000 Bahrainis annually until 2024.

The Economic Recovery Plan also facilitated the completion of 12 major projects, fulfilling the priority objective of implementing major development projects. The non-oil sector also recorded a growth of 6.6% at constant prices during the year 2022, the highest growth rate since 2012, exceeding the initial target growth rate within the priority of developing promising sectors of 5% in 2022.

As for the priority of financial sustainability and economic stability, work is underway to achieve the goals of fiscal balance.

Progress on Vision 2030

HE Shaikh Salman further briefed His Royal Highness on the Kingdom’s achievements through Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030, a comprehensive plan launched by HM the King and supported by HRH the Crown Prince, Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Bahrain EDB, based on the three guiding principles of sustainability, competitiveness, and fairness.

According to the brief, the Kingdom’s economy recorded a cumulative growth of 8% between 2002 to 2022, placing the Kingdom of Bahrain among the fastest-growing economies in the region, which confirms its ability to continue progress towards building on wide-ranging financial and economic achievements.

The Kingdom of Bahrain has also succeeded in increasing economic diversification as the contribution of the non-oil sector to the gross domestic product rose to 83% from 58% in 2002.

HE Shaikh Salman affirmed that, during the period from 2002 to 2023, the Kingdom of Bahrain recorded positive achievements in the sectors targeted by the Economic Recovery Plan. For example, the number of visitors coming to the Kingdom of Bahrain increased by 170%, while non-oil exports increased by 675%, assets of the banking sector increased by 222%, and the balance of foreign direct investment increased by 582% through the third quarter of 2023.

Growth by Sector

HE the Minister explained that efforts are continuing to build on the success of the major development projects across the tourism, logistics, industry, and energy sectors.

The energy sector saw the inauguration of the Al Dur 2 Station, the new oil pipeline project, and work is underway to expand the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco Energies) refinery.

Meanwhile, in the industrial sector, Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) alunched its sixth smelting line expansion project at the American Trade Zone - Phase One while the aluminium manufacturing zone was inaugurated.

In the logistics services sector, the expansion project of Bahrain International Airport, Khalifa bin Salman Port, and Bahrain LNG were completed. In the tourism sector, the Bahrain International Circuit and the Exhibition World Bahrain were completed, and several tourist facilities were opened.

In line with the Kingdom’s commitment to ensure citizens remain the best choice in the labour market, the presentation revealed that the percentage of Bahrainis working in the private sector increased to more than 59% from 2003 to 2023, and the percentage of Bahraini women working in the private sector increased to more than 126% in the same period. Additionally, from 2002 to 2023, salaries of Bahrainis in the private sector increased by more than 119%.

Quality of Life

Since the launch of the Bahrain Vision 2030, the government has also demonstrated its commitment to enhancing the quality of services provided to Bahraini citizens through the completion and documentation of more than 1,300 government services and the development of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) as well as more than 650 government re-engineered services.

Furthermore, the government has launched several platforms, including the one stop online commercial registration portal Sijilat, which enables business owners and investors to manage their businesses and complete procedures and the Building Permit Portal, Banayat, also a one stop portal to issue building permits for all types of building projects.

The government also launched a unified guide for building permit requirements and began work on the (Takhteet) platform as part of the expansion of the "Benayat" system to include many planning services. The National System for Suggestions and Complaints (Tawasul) was also launched to enhance the ability of government agencies to provide high-quality services to all. The government also initiated the Real Estate Information Bank (Aqari) platform, which aims to create a central, reliable national source for real estate information. Finally, the Kingdom launched the Al Tajir application, the first integrated application for smart devices in the Kingdom of Bahrain, through which multiple services are provided to several parties to facilitate everything business professionals may need in one platform.

In line with the government’s commitment to modernise the system of laws and legislation to keep pace with the requirements of sustainable development, 1,885 laws and legislations were issued, and a culture of creativity and innovation continues to be promoted to enhance accountability and responsibility as they are among the constants and foundations of government work.

Facilities Development

Additionally,  the government launched many service projects across several sectors, including housing, education, health, youth empowerment, and promoting women’s progress.

In the health sector, hospital capacity increased to 3,428 beds in 2022 while the overall health infrastructure in Bahrain was improved through the opening of the King Hamad University Hospital, the King Hamad Hospital - American Mission, and the Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa Specialist Cardiac Centre.

The education sector has also achieved notable progress  in the same period, as the number of public and private schools in the Kingdom of Bahrain has increased to 291 schools in 2024, and the number of students reached 243,000 students. The Education and Training Quality Authority, Bahrain Polytechnic, and the Bahrain Teachers College were also established.

In the housing sector, the number of beneficiaries of housing services since 2002 has increased to more than 55,000 citizens and many new housing cities have been established including Salman City, East Hidd City, East Sitra City, and Khalifa City. The government also launched several housing projects, including the Al Ramli Housing Project, Al Buhair Housing Project and Wadi Al-Sail Housing Project.

National Economy

The Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain and member of the Board of Directors of the Economic Development Board, H.E. Mr. Khalid Ibrahim Humaidan, also gave a comprehensive presentation in which he shed light on the developments in the national economy for the year 2023.

The presentation showed the growth of the gross domestic product at fixed prices during the first nine months of 2023, reaching 2.1%. Meanwhile, the non-oil GDP grew 3.2%, which confirms the pivotal role of the non-oil sector in Bahrain’s ongoing direction towards achieving economic diversification.

Mr. Humaidan highlighted that 2023 was exceptional in terms of attracting investments, as the EDB was able to attract local and international investments exceeding USD 1.734 billion from 85 investment projects, which are projected to create more than 5,792 job opportunities within three years.

He explained that new projects constituted 69% of the total attracted investment projects, while investment expansion projects amounted to 31%.

Key Officials

The Personal Representative of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and President of the Supreme Council for Environment, His Highness Shaikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Representative of His Majesty the King for Humanitarian Works and Youth Affairs, His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Isa bin Salman Educational Charitable Trust, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Labour Fund (Tamkeen) His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Deputy Prime Minister, His Excellency Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, the Minister of Finance and National Economy, His Excellency Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, along with a number of senior officials and members of the Board of Directors of the Economic Development Board, also attended the meeting.