Check out Bahrain for access to GCC markets!

BENGALURU: Expanding operations to Middle Eastern markets? Bahrain could be the entry point. The tiny country of 1.3 million with about 50 percent expat population is positioned as a hub that competes with Dubai. “The cost differential could be in the range of 30-40%,” says John Kilmartin, Executive director of ICT Business Development at Bahrain Economic Development Board, an agency tasked with driving inward investments in Bahrain. The country is working at diversifying its economy into non-oil based sectors and riding the next level of growth in the GCC region.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, known as GCC, is the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf for tighter regional economic union. It includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE -- basically all the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, except Iraq.

The ICT market opportunity for GCC region is estimated to be in the range of $1.5 trillion, with a cumulative IT spend of $200 billion every year growing at 10%YoY.

Manama, Bahrain-based Kilmartin and his Mumbai, India-based colleague Dharmi Madgani, the regional director of Singapore, Malaysia and India were in Bengaluru to participate in an industry event.

Their team is working on ensuring that Bahrain competitive advantages don’t go un-noticed by the businesses looking at accessing the GCC markets, especially Saudi Arabia, which has key cultural affinities with Bahrain native population and is a market that a number of companies across countries are interested in.

The Bahrain EDB initiatives have resulted in almost 3,500 jobs being created in the country every year spread across 55-60 foreign direct investment projects. According to Kilmartin, there is an increased interest from China as well in the region. Global ICT major Huawei’s Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region headquarters is located in Bahrain. India’s ICT major TCS also reaches out to the GCC region via Bahrain.

The key advantages of Bahrain include not just ease of business where a company can go operational in about three months max but also the fact that a 100 percent FDI project with 100 percent foreign ownership are welcome, though businesses traditionally prefer a local partner to facilitate access to market and navigate cultural mores.

“Bahrain is fairly well entrenched in fintech and contact center skill sets, making it a preferred location for near-shoring customer facing processes for the GCC markets,” says Kilmartin adding that Bahrain EDB is renewing its focus to get the world rethink its access to GCC markets via Bahrain over Dubai leveraging its geo-location advantages. This  765 sq km country is pretty much at the heart of the GCC region ensuring access to all markets in the travel time range of 40 minutes to an hour with a well-embedded surface and air transport ensuring regional connectivity.