MANAMA — The Bahrain Economic Development Board — the investment promotion agency for the Kingdom of Bahrain — has announced that over the course of 2019, seven firms from other GCC member states entered Bahrain’s Information & communications technology space, bringing a total investment of $4,085,965. The seven companies range from IT consultants to software and hardware developers; they are:

• Transcend Travel Technology — Technology consultancy and solutions for the travel industry
• Bookr – A Kuwaiti startup that provides beauty professionals with cloud-based appointment management features and provides an app-based marketplace for consumers to find, book and pay for beauty service appointments.
• Digital Transformation Professionals ADTCs – A software enterprise solutions and services firm that helps corporates across the Middle East build and maintain a strong and stable digital environment with a focus on new technologies, including mobility solutions, cloud offerings & services, data visualization (end to end), applied technology solutions (IOT), blockchain and artificial intelligence.
• Enwan Al Jazeera – A Saudi company established to invest in technology, particularly in the development and implementation of web and mobile applications
• Dynamic Cloud – One of the fast-growing providers of cutting- edge solutions in the fields of Cloud Computing, Internet of Things (IoT), Digital Twin, and Business Intelligence (BI). With three offices in Saudi Arabia & Bahrain, Dynamic Cloud is one of the very few companies in the region which designs and develops its own products.
• CodeBase Technologies – Part of an investment group based out of the UAE with a diversified service offering across industries, including solutions for FinTech, blockchain, mobile, Islamic Finance and business intelligence. Awarded Best Islamic Financial Software Provider 2018 by the World Islamic FinTech Awards.
• Innosoft – An IT and Business Solutions company headquartered in Dubai with stakes in various ICT organizations across the world. Offers solutions for digital transformation, mobile, facilities management, eGovernment, productivity and smart cities.

Innovative companies are increasingly choosing hyper-connected Bahrain to grow their ICT business, attracted by Bahrain’s nimble and innovative regulatory environment with a highly competitive taxation system, 100 percent foreign ownership, and the lowest operating costs in the region. The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has pushed forward initiatives that are playing a vital role in creating a favorable environment for digital businesses ranging from data privacy and competition laws to open banking, and the most recent, robo advisory and insurance aggregators. Bahrain was ranked first in MENA for ICT readiness and 11^th globally by the UN for Telecoms Infrastructure.

Fajer Al Pachachi, Senior Manager, Business Development — ICT, Bahrain EDB, said: “The kingdom has long been recognized for its innovation and tech-friendly regulatory environment, having passed a number of laws to further encourage digital disruption, including data protection and data jurisdiction laws, the region’s first nation-wide cloud-first policy, and one of the first countries to roll-out commercial 5G. This has made Bahrain one of the first choices for tech companies looking at expanding into the region’s $1.5 trillion market. At the EDB we focus on a number of priority sub-sectors where the kingdom offers competitive advantages, including gaming, cyber-security and cloud computing. We look forward to working with potential investors to introduce them to the numerous opportunities available both in Bahrain and the wider region.” — SG