The Digital Cooperation Organisation (DCO) has singled out Bahrain as a regional leader in digital transformation, recognising the kingdom for its “continued leadership” in accelerating connectivity, financial inclusion, and innovation across the Gulf.
The recognition comes from the DCO’s newly launched Digital Economy Navigator 2025 (DEN 2025) report, unveiled at the Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha.
The DEN 2025, which benchmarks digital maturity across 80 countries, noted that Bahrain continues to stand out as one of the Gulf’s most agile digital economies, driven by significant progress in its infrastructure, governance, and financial inclusion.
According to the report, Bahrain was listed among 36 countries worldwide that saw an expansion in access to digital banking over the past year.
These gains are largely attributed to the kingdom’s robust regulatory framework, its commitment to fostering innovation, and its early nationwide 5G rollout. Bahrain is also making headway in digitalising the workplace and actively working to close gender gaps.
The report noted that, guided by its Economic Vision 2030, Bahrain is positioned to evolve into a regional hub for trusted, high-value digital services, demonstrating how smaller economies can translate focused policy and investment into measurable global impact.
DCO secretary-general Deemah AlYahya stressed that the DEN 2025 highlights both current progress and future opportunities.
“The Digital Cooperation Organisation envisions a future where every nation can participate meaningfully in the digital economy, not only as consumers of digital services, but as creators and innovators,” she said.
Ms AlYahya urged collective action, adding: “We must move from measuring digital transformation to accelerating it, with governments adopting agile and forward-looking policies.”
Globally, the report found that Internet access now reaches more than four in five people. While online service portals are being fully implemented across most countries surveyed, the DCO emphasised the need to ease restrictions on the trade of ICT goods to ensure affordable access to digital devices.
avinash@gdnmedia.bh
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