[caption id="attachment_8013" align="alignleft" width="401"]
Business Opportunities in Bahrain[/caption] Bahrain is one of the prominent places in the Middle Eastern Region for investment opportunities and the country got good potential and economic environment for starting and doing business. The country got a reputation for the strong financial system, economic and political stability, strategic location and a strong legal framework that make the country a suitable place with great business opportunities. There is no corporate or personal income tax in the country and the country known as a veritable alternative to Dubai. Bahrain ranked 24th on the world scale of liberal economy and ranked first among the combined Arab countries. In this article, we are going to discuss the business opportunities in Bahrain. Business activities in Bahrain The Kingdom of Bahrain always allows and welcomes the investment and thus the business-friendly government of Bahrain develops an economic environment that is suitable for starting and doing business in Bahrain, 100% foreign ownership company is eligible and very few numbers of business opportunities that only reserved for the locals. However, in Bahrain, there are business activities that may prohibit. The following lists show the business that prohibited in the country.
On another hand, there are the business activities that only allowed for the citizens of Bahrain or the companies in Bahrain. The list is given in below.
Additionally, some business activities only allowed for the Bahrain and GCC citizens and companies. The list is given in below.
There is also some other restriction applies based on the types of business. For example, if the company operates in the segment of trade and retail then there should be minimum 51% ownership to Bahrain citizens or companies or partners and set up a company in Bahrain. So for conduction, these types of business one should have Bahraini partners. For travel and tourism services, foreign companies should have Bahrain Partner and the amount of share not mentioned, for opening any Medical clinics and centers, the license of the organization only subject to the name of a Bahraini and GCC citizens with adequate medical qualifications. Finally, for the Pharmacies, a Bahraini citizen should hold the 50% share of the company’s total capital. Business Structures in Bahrain According to the commercial companies law 2001, there are few types of legal business structures are available in Bahrain and these mentioned below.
Other business opportunities in Bahrain In Bahrain there is no general taxation applies to the business. Only tax applies to oil companies and they have to pay tax for exploration, production, refining procedure, and types of companies in Bahrain. For other companies in Bahrain, they may need to pay the municipal tax and the amount of tax may vary based on the place of incorporation. Additionally, the employers of Bahrain pays a 10% of payroll and the employees pay 5% of earning in the social insurance fund and that against the old age, disability and death for the citizen of Bahrain. The companies that got more than 50 employees have to provide an approved training scheme. If the company does not provide the training scheme then they must pay 1% levy for the Bahrain citizen and 4% to the foreign citizen. There is no capital gain tax and there is no withholding tax in Bahrain. There is only sell tax applicable only to the selling of gasoline. However, the individuals are subject to pay religious wealth tax (Zakat). There is no tax for the export products form Bahrain (Export to Israel is Prohibited and a negative list of product that is prohibited). For importing, there is no license equipment for the majority of the products except arms and ammunition and alcohol.
