The Bahrain International Investment Park (BIIP) says it is ahead of schedule in its 10-year strategic development plan, started in 2005, to become a premier export-orientated manufacturing zone in the Gulf.

“We are well on target to achieve both 100 per cent occupancy and full project operations within the park by 2015,” says BIIP project director Brian Cogan.

As of the end of 2010, 75 per cent of the park had been allocated to more than 75 projects, of which 20 are operational, 30 are currently under construction, 16 have signed leases and are obtaining building permits, and the remainder are currently signing leases, says Cogan.

“We anticipate the park will be fully allocated in the next two years, with approximately 100 companies eventually employing about 12,000 people,” he explains. 

In 2010, BIIP received a total of BD165 million ($437 million) in investments via 11 projects, 10 of which were foreign ventures from countries as diverse as Germany, Japan, Nepal, the UAE, China, Saudi Arabia and the USA.

Among key foreign investors in 2010 were Siemens and BASF, two of Germany’s most prominent industrial powerhouses. BASF, the world’s leading chemical company, is building a new customer-specific antioxidant blending facility at the park to support its Middle East operations, while Siemens will establish a $5.2 million metallurgical service centre for the Middle East steel and aluminium industry.

The Abahsain factory, another prominent tenant

Meanwhile, 2010 also saw the approval of a $200 million, 45,000 sq m fibreglass manufacturing facility, a joint venture between China’s Chongqing Polycomp International Corp (CPIC) and Saudi Arabia’s S & A Abahsain Company which, once completed, will have a capacity of 140,000 tonnes per year of fibreglass.

Cogan says BIIP’s ability to attract world-class foreign investors such as BASF and Siemens justifies Bahrain’s billing as a highly competitive investment location, and provides a very effective marketing tool going into 2011, during which he anticipates similar levels of investment to 2010.

“In terms of the overall investment package, Bahrain has a very compelling argument: few other locations can offer zero corporate or income tax, 100 per cent foreign investment and quality serviced industrial land at a cost close to zero. Furthermore, because BIIP is not a free zone, we have unrivalled duty-free access to a market of about 200 million people in the Gulf and Arab world. All this located at the gate of a brand new port, just 10 minutes from an international airport and just 25 minutes to the customs post on the King Fahad Causeway,” says Cogan.

Hard work must continue
Cogan acknowledges that Bahrain and the BIIP must continue to work hard to attract investors from around the world, especially in a challenging global economic environment which has seen some foreign investors pull out of planned projects in Bahrain and elsewhere in the GCC.

“It is a very competitive environment. Over the past two decades, Dubai has done an excellent job promoting itself as a prime location for investors, while Saudi Arabia is also naturally on the radar as the region’s largest market.

“The onus is therefore on us to ensure we get the message through to potential investors of Bahrain’s competitive advantages. We cannot sit back and wait for companies to come to our door,” he says.

Cogan says it is also vital that world-class facilities are backed up by efficient business-set-up procedures.

“Investors need to be sure that they will not be hindered by red tape. At BIIP the typical time from project approval to first export from a completed factory is 18 months, which stands up well in the sector,” he explains. Given that in two years all space in BIIP will be fully allocated, Cogan says there are currently no plans to expand BIIP land to accommodate new investors, the ongoing challenge of ensuring inward investment to Bahrain falling to successor parks which will need to be built once BIIP is fully allocated.

Further ahead, Cogan envisages BIIP as an important component of Salman Industrial City, itself expected to be a key driver of the Bahrain economy employing about 34,000 people and catering to manufacturing, logistics and commercial activities, all feeding off the success of the vibrant Khalifa Bin Salman Port.

“One of BIIP’s key selling points is its connectivity to GCC markets and in this respect we look forward to accelerated development of the Qatar-Bahrain Friendship Bridge in the wake of Qatar’s recent successful bid to host the 2022 football World Cup.

“Combined with the Causeway to Saudi Arabia, the Qatar-Bahrain link would put the kingdom, and BIIP, at the very heart of the GCC,” concludes Cogan.