Bahrain: Golden License for Investors Launched

Bahrain announced the launch of a Golden License offering incentives and streamlined services to foreign and local companies bringing large-scale investment projects into the country. In order to be eligible for a Golden License, companies and investors must make a major investment or implement strategic projects which create a minimum of 500 jobs in Bahrain or they must make an investment valued at a minimum of USD 50 million. Investors who obtain the license will obtain benefits including automatically being issued Golden Residency permits for themselves, tax exemptions for their company, and streamlined access to government services such as business licensing and building permit approval, as well as support from Bahrain’s Labor Fund, Tamkeen, and the Bahrain Development Bank. Companies will also be assigned a designated account manager from Bahrain’s Economic Development Board which will help throughout the company’s set up process, including finding office locations, taking clients on site visits, connecting them with the appropriate entities, fast tracking approvals where necessary, and working as a proxy of the employer in the country when the employer is located abroad.