Family first in Bahrain's business world

By Captain Mahmood Al Mahmood

They say that it takes two generations to build a business and one generation to shut it down.

However, a family business that moves with the times and invests professional skills into growing the business stands a better chance of lasting longer and contributing meaningfully to the national and regional economies.

By that measure, Bahraini family businesses made the Kingdom proud.

Four top Bahraini family businesses—YK Almoayyed, Kanoo Group, Fakhro Group, and Alzayani Investments—whose operations span over three generations and, even more importantly, embrace diversity and gender equality with gusto—have been handpicked by Forbes Magazine as among the region’s top 100 Arab family businesses.

When Bahrain began its transition into a contemporary economic hub in the early 1900s, these families were among those that provided vital services such as trading platforms and financing services (albeit semi-formal) for the emerging Kingdom.

Today, business owners are members of the government and part of the business eco-system of Bahrain, helping to lead by example and shape new rules for the economy.

Now that we are shifting focus from the service economy to the knowledge base, a new set of families are emerging who are taking Bahrain’s digital future forward.

The Kingdom, too, has built a great infrastructure of business through Export Bahrain, EDB, and Tamkeen, which finance companies and individuals to test waters beyond Bahrain.

Our youth are the leaders who will steer this economy forward, and we must invest in teaching them the lessons learned by the older generation on how to keep it “all within the family.”