some side agreements around that with Bahrain as well. The future is very bright. What are the most popular British products and services in Bahrain? We see lots of different professional services being offered in both directions. That’s a very strong sector that continues to grow. I think we’re seeing growth in manufacture which is going to start to take off over this next period. British firms are realising that talent is easier to recruit here in Bahrain than in London or other cities in this region, and are therefore setting up offices to take advantage of that and do part of their regional operations from here in Bahrain. The business-friendly nature of this economy remains very important and attractive in many sectors. How many British citizens currently reside in the Kingdom of Bahrain? Between 5,000 and 7,000 of which we believe 5,000 are permanently here and another couple thousand semi-permanently. That figure hasn’t changed in the last couple of years, but we are hearing of new firms coming in and setting up offices. There are Brits in every sector of the economy, Providing professional services in different ways: legal, insurance, financial and education. Some of them have also become Bahraini over time. Is there anything else you can say? Bahrain continues to delight and surprise me. I continue to find new things about this pearl… this small place in the middle of the Gulf. I’m very confident that, things are on the right track and the next several years are going to be very exciting period of optimism of growth and new developments. And the UK will be right here, part of it, working with our Bahraini partners to make it bigger and better. June 2022 19 www.bahrainthismonth.com UK in Bahrain
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