Industry

Industry in Bahrain continues to grow as increasingly low borrowing rates, particularly for manufacturing, demonstrate banks’ willingness to finance projects in the sector. Bahrain’s manufacturing sector accounts for 15% of GDP making it the country’s third-largest economic contributor after hydrocarbons and financial services, and is expected to reach 20% of GDP within the next decade. The sector is dominated by basic metals, refined petroleum products and chemical products, and in 2012 employed 13% of the total workforce in the kingdom. Bahrain is home to the sixth-largest aluminium smelter in the world, which has encouraged the clustering of several downstream businesses, while the kingdom’s burgeoning pharmaceuticals sector was worth $260m in 2012 and is expected to rise by a compound annual growth rate of 10.1% to 2017.

This chapter contains interviews with HE Dr Hassan Fakhro, Advisor to the King for Economic Affairs; and Tim Murray, CEO, ALBA.