The Middle East

Bahrain has long remained an attractive place for testing business concepts, with easy scalability in neighbouring markets. The country aims to become a centre of innovation and technological disruption in finance. New regulatory processes from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) allow financial technology (fintech) companies to trial new ideas...

Bahrain has set itself the ambitious goal of universal ultra-fast broadband. Enthusiastic adoption of smartphones by consumers, coupled with investment by mobile network operators in the latest technology, have seen a rapid increase in broadband penetration, in turn laying the foundations for further growth in the sector.

The negotiations that have been ongoing between the British government and the EU since the triggering of Article 50 in March 2017 have attracted the close attention of global decision-makers and will continue to do so until the deadline for a trade agreement expires in March 2019.

NATIONAL CHARACTER: While Bahrainis are interested in and open to foreign cultures, they are also very proud of their own identity, history and culture, and they are willing to share their local customs and traditions with those who are keen to learn.

In line with global practices, Bahrain is committed to adopting the new International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as of January 1, 2018. Accordingly, IFRS 9 Financial Instruments and IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers are coming into practice in the kingdom.

Recognised by the government as an engine for growth, economic diversification and social cohesion, the telecoms sector in Bahrain is expected to play a vital role in enabling the kingdom to achieve its ambition of becoming a regional centre for digital technology. Since ownership was liberalised in the early 21st century, the industry has...