Seven Indian IT firms invested a total of $3.1 million (Rs 210 crore) in Bahrain’s information, communications and technology (ICT) space, an official said. “The seven Indian firms are IT consultants, software and hardware developers, whose combined investment of $3.1 million was approved by the kingdom’s Bahrain Economic Development Board (BEDB) during 2019 calendar year,” said the official in a statement from Manama.
Noting that India was emerging as a global power in the ICT sector, the official said the Gulf country was positioning as a strategic partner in the disruptive technology domain.
“The Central Bank of Bahrain is creating a favourable environment for digital businesses ranging from a regulatory sandbox, data privacy and competition laws to open banking, robo advisory and insurance aggregators,” said the official.
The seven Indian firms are:
- Benzy Infotech, a service arm of Akbar Travels, which provides back-office services for the travel industry.
- JKT Technosoft, providing software solutions to clients for a digital future.
- Zeaway Tech, a consultant firm, offering services from web and mobile app design and development to data analytics and cloud solutions.
- Expressbase, a cloud-based platform to build and run business applications.
- Zerek Technologies, which supports enterprises in the Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor and control their assets, people and processes.
- Hacktech Solutions, provider of information security, ethical hacking training and cyber security services.
- Techno Path Soultions, offering business software solutions and consultancy services to start-ups, micro, small and medium enterprises.
“India is Bahrain’s fifth largest trading partner and trade between the two countries is on the rise. We are seeing growing interest from India in the manufacturing sector and the ICT space,” said BEDB”s regional director Dharmi Magdani in the statement.
Bahrain’s regulatory environment with a competitive taxation system and 100 per cent ownership makes the kingdom attractive to Indian scaleups, unicorns and technology firms seeking access to the growing $1.5-trillion Gulf market.
During his maiden visit to Bahrain in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Rupay Card, the Indian payment system in the kingdom, which has about 4-lakh Indian diaspora, making it the largest overseas community in the Gulf country.
Bahrain is the first GCC country to adopt a government-wide cloud-first policy.
“With Amazon Web Services setting up a data centre in Bahrain, it is easier for companies to run their software on the digital platform, build business apps in the cloud and simplify infrastructure management to lower costs and increase revenue,” added the statement.