The speech by His Royal Highness Prince bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier, at the Bahrain Government Forum 2016 last month came at an important moment for assessing where Bahrain’s economy is now; while setting out the road map for the way forward.
Firstly, after the difficulties of recent years – the 2008 global economic crisis, regional instability in 2011 and the drop in oil prices – it is remarkable to see how far the economy has progressed during these trying times: The 28 per cent net economic growth since 2008 coincides with a three-fold rise in non-oil exports which brings the non-oil sector to 80pc of GDP; and a remarkable growth in the private sector, with rises in living standards has resulted in a 48pc growth in the average Bahraini family income over the same period .