Manama, December 30 (BNA): Within the framework of the Bahrain government’s ambitious economic recovery plan, the industrial sector strategy (2022-2026) was revealed today in a press conference at the Isa Cultural Center.
His Excellency Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, stressed at the conference that the strategy is an essential pillar in the economic recovery plan and will contribute to achieving economic growth.
He explained that the economic recovery plan provides for the development of the production and services sectors in the Kingdom, where the industrial sector is an essential element in them.
The minister stressed that this comes within the framework of the various initiatives being put forward to achieve economic development within the framework of the visions of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
Al-Zayani added that the industrial sector continues to receive support from the government headed by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, as part of Bahrain’s comprehensive economic vision 2030.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism has set the main objectives of the Industrial Strategy (2022-2026). He indicated that the strategic objectives focus on increasing the sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product, increasing exports of national origin, as well as creating additional job opportunities, supported by adapting the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, implementing the “circular carbon economy”, and encouraging investment in digitization. and improving regional supply chains.
The minister added that the targeted industries as part of the strategy include manufacturing industries in aluminum and petrochemicals, in addition to renewable energy sectors including “blue and green hydrogen”, which will contribute to the Kingdom’s commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2060. The minister stressed that the strategy will also focus on food, drug, and microelectronics.
Al-Zayani stressed that the industrial sector strategy is based on five main pillars, which are strengthening local industries, investing in infrastructure, improving the investor experience, providing professional guidance for Bahrainis, and modernizing legislation.
With regard to the advancement of local industries, the minister highlighted several initiatives within the strategy, ranging from launching programs to encourage major factories to purchase products and services from local small and medium factories, providing industrial incubation and acceleration opportunities for small and medium companies, and improving regional import and export. Supply chains through Export Bahrain solutions, development of the “Made in Bahrain” brand, and launch of the Industrial Excellence Award to encourage competition between factories.
The minister added that investment in infrastructure is essential and will be achieved by allocating areas for promising industries, improving facilities and services for industrial zones, intensifying inspections of industrial zones, encouraging the use of renewable energy, and establishing an “industrial innovation center” to promote the adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.
With regard to the third pillar of the strategy, the minister explained that the government is working to facilitate procedures to improve the investor experience.
He explained that the government is re-evaluating the current procedures and will launch a unified electronic system as the main platform that serves investors in this field, in addition to facilitating procedures related to obtaining licenses and providing services through relationship management, to reach customized solutions to the various problems it faces.
Al-Zayani explained that the fourth pillar includes guiding citizens professionally by providing various educational and vocational training opportunities in this field.
In addition to launching programs that would encourage the employment of nationals in the sector, and encourage factories to prepare training programs for graduates of technical and vocational education.
The minister stressed that the review of legislation will be through the application of joint Gulf controls. This includes amending local ordinances to include precision industries, as well as establishing specific urban planning classifications assigned to industrial areas.
Al-Zayani explained that three key performance indicators have been developed to evaluate the implementation of the strategy.
He explained that it includes the percentage of Bahrainis working in the sector with a specific goal of increasing the percentage to 25.3% and increasing the total employment to 65,291 individuals by 2026.
The minister added that the second indicator is the contribution of the industrial sector to the gross domestic product, with the aim of reaching 2.544 billion dinars by 2026, with a contribution rate of 14.5%.
Regarding the third indicator, the minister indicated that the contribution of the industrial sector to total exports will be measured. The strategy aims to increase the share of total exports to 80.1% to reach 2.475 billion dinars by 2026.
The Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism also highlighted several investment projects that will be implemented with the launch of the industrial sector strategy, at a total cost of more than 90 million Bahraini dinars. These include the establishment of the US Trade Zone (USTZ) by June 2025, with an area of 1.1 million square meters at a cost of BHD 75 million.
As well as the construction of the industrial area of Fasht Al-Azm with a total area of 104 million square meters, and the land of the aluminum manufacturing industry with an area of 477,000 square meters.
The Minister also listed several infrastructure development projects with a value of approximately 35 million Bahraini dinars. These include the infrastructure development of East Salman Industrial City, at an expected cost of BD12 million, with an expected completion date of March 2024. Along with the development of sanitation facilities in Salman Industrial City, at an expected cost of BD10.2 million, the expected completion date is in December 2023.
The minister added that the third project includes infrastructure development in the industrial area south of Hidd at an initial cost of 12 million dinars, and is expected to be completed in June 2024.
The minister also highlighted plans to invest in the development and maintenance of road networks in the industrial zones. The expected costs are 2.5 million dinars, and the project is expected to be completed in December 2025.
For his part, the CEO of Tamkeen, Mr. Hussein Mohammed Rajab, affirmed Tamkeen’s commitment to providing support to individuals and facilities in the Kingdom in accordance with its strategic objectives. The European Commission confirmed that the Labor Fund will continue to support promising industries by providing training opportunities to empower Bahrainis according to market needs.
He pointed out that Tamkeen has supervised several training programs, including a recent program managed in coordination with the global Fives Group and Bahrain Polytechnic University.
Rajab highlighted Tamkeen’s role in achieving the strategic objectives of the Industrial Strategy 2022-2026. He explained that Tamkeen will focus on supporting efforts to adopt the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, by providing training opportunities in various fields, including artificial intelligence and transformational production.
He added that Tamkeen will also support local productive industries through financial support for institutions in paying the wages of Bahraini workers. This is in addition to providing incubators for small and medium-sized companies to encourage innovation.
With regard to providing vocational guidance to the local workforce, the Executive Director indicated that Tamkeen will organize various training programs in cooperation with educational institutions. This will include professional global certifications and training opportunities.
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