Bahrain’s non-oil sector of it’s economy expanded by an annual pace of 4.7% in the first half of the 2017, according to the most recent Bahrain Economic Quarterly published by the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB).

 

The strong non-oil progress was entirely due to private sector activity, which underscored the strength of growth drivers in the gulf country’s economy.

 

“Non-oil growth in the first half of 2017 was broad-based with particularly strong momentum observed in sectors such as Hotels & Restaurants, Social & Personal Services and Financial Services, which all expanded more than 7% year-on-year in the period. Additionally, the Transportation & Communications and Real Estate & Business Activities sectors all posted solid figures,” the press release published by the EDB read.

 

Speaking on the publication of the report, Dr. Jarmo Kotilaine, Chief Economic Advisor of the Bahrain EDB, commented:

 

“The fact that growth figures have once again surprised on the upsides attests to the exceptional strength of the countercyclical growth drivers in the Bahraini economy, notably the unprecedented project pipeline, led by major ventures such as the airport modernization.

 

 

“However, growth is also increasingly benefiting from important structural reforms. During the first half of this year, initiatives such as pioneering crowdfunding regulations, a regulatory sandbox for fintech companies and a Cloud First policy (designed to help organizations take advantage of cloud technology), have dramatically improved Bahrain’s business environment. Bahrain is successfully positioning itself at the forefront of innovation at a time when the growth prospects for the Gulf economies are becoming increasingly tied to productivity.

 

“As a result of this and the opportunities being created by economic transformation across the region, we are seeing bigger and brighter names attracted to Bahrain. For example, Amazon Web Services, whose summit was one of the highlights of the recent Bahrain Technology Week, will be opening its first Middle East Region here by 2019.”