MANAMA — The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) – the investment promotion agency tasked with attracting investment into the Kingdom – on Wednesday announced the joining of its board member Khalid Humaidan as chief executive effective immediately.

Prior to joining the EDB, Humaidan, a Bahraini national, was the Head of Global Markets MEA at BNP Paribas. He has over 20 years of experience working in capital markets and currently serves on the board of Mumtalakat, and until his appointment as CE, sat on the EDB’s Board from 2014.

Humaidan said: “At a time of rapid shifts in the global economy, the key to our prosperity lies in the rapid adoption of new trends and innovation – as well as strong partnerships between the public and private sector. The work of the Bahrain Economic Development Board has brought a range of world-class companies to the Kingdom through a forward-thinking approach that combines agility, a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem, and coordinated action. Having spent more than 20 years in Finance, I look forward to contribute to the next phase of the Kingdom's economic growth and forging even stronger ties with our partners."

Thanks to its nimble regulation, highly skilled workforce, high standards of living and low-cost operating environment, Bahrain is increasingly the destination of choice for businesses – from global tech leaders to innovative startups – seeking access to the growing $1.5 trillion Gulf market. In the last two years alone, the EDB has worked closely with Amazon Web Services, who just recently opened the region’s first hyper-scale data center Region in Bahrain; confectionary giant Mondelez, who chose Bahrain for their sixth global mega plant. — SG