Bahrain

The tightening of banking rules and regulations has been an ongoing pattern worldwide, particularly following the global financial crisis of 2008-09.

Created in 2006, Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company owns controlling or significant stakes in many of the kingdom’s major businesses and has made strategic investments in companies in other countries. A core aspect of Mumtalakat’s portfolio revolves around managing the government’s commercial interest in many of the country’s most significant...

In October 2016 Alba secured the biggest corporate loan in the history of the kingdom, as conventional and Islamic banks offered it $1.5bn in the first tranche of funding that will finance the $3bn potline six expansion. The government’s investment arm, Mumtalakat Holding Company, controls 69.38% of Alba, and the project is a key component of...

In May 2016 Bahrain approved its fourth NTP, which mapped out key targets for the upcoming three-year period. The national plan, which succeeds the third NTP, released in 2012, calls for, among other things, 95% of all households and 100% of all businesses and public radio communication stations in the kingdom to have access to affordable,...

The ICT sector in Bahrain is now a major pillar of the economy, and also one of the core sectors Bahrain is focused on developing, both to attract direct foreign investment but also to grow human resources and help propel Bahrain as a regional ICT centre. Recent years have seen a significant expansion in the ICT landscape, as well as a push...