Bahrain has simply 1.5 million folks. That’s smaller than many cities all over the world, a lot much less different international locations. By way of space, the Persian Gulf island nation is barely about 300 sq. miles.
However its measurement is just not an obstacle, based on Noor Al Khulaif, Bahrain’s minister of sustainable growth.
“The way we see it is, Bahrain is the testing ground for countries in the region,” Al Khulaif mentioned at Fortune’s Most Highly effective Ladies summit in neighboring Saudi Arabia final week.
Firms eager on doing enterprise within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—which incorporates Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman—use Bahrain for this objective.
You possibly can “come and test your idea on a smaller scale, and if it goes wrong, so what, it’s 1.5 million people—it didn’t really go wrong,” she mentioned. But when it succeeds, you acquire confidence about scaling it up throughout the area, she famous. “We see Bahrain as the gateway to the GCC.”
Al Khulaif, who additionally serves as CEO of the Bahrain Financial Improvement Board as effectively, mentioned the small measurement additionally permits for tight cooperation.
“We don’t really talk as government, private sector, and society,” she mentioned. “There’s a team Bahrain ethos in the country, and we do this collectively.”
That helps clarify how Bahrain has reworked its financial system past oil so successfully.
“For us, oil is not even the biggest sector in our economy, and hasn’t been for the past almost two years now, and that’s the result of a journey that stretches over decades,” she mentioned.
As an alternative monetary providers is the largest sector, with fintech being an enormous progress space, she mentioned. Manufacturing, logistics, tourism, and expertise are additionally key sectors.
Bahrain has lengthy had shut financial ties with Saudi Arabia and has realized to enrich its a lot bigger neighbor, to which it’s linked through a causeway.
“We see ourselves as the service center to Saudi,” Al Khulaif mentioned.
If Saudi Arabia is growing manufacturing, for instance, Bahrain will attempt to provide assist capabilities for that, reminiscent of by being a again workplace, she mentioned: “Our economy and the Saudi economy have been interconnected for many, many years, and we see ourselves as an integral part of the GCC economy.”
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
