The recently launched Bahrain Investment Market’s innovative trading platform unlocks previously untapped and potentially lucrative opportunities, said its CEO Shaikh Khalifa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa.

He was addressing members of the Bahrain Association of Banks (BAB) who got an up-close look at the investment opportunities offered by Bahrain Bourse’s (BHB) newly-launched Bahrain Investment Market (BIM), an equity market for growing business ventures in Bahrain and the wider Mena region.

The presentation, which took place at the BHB on Thursday (May 4), is part of the BHB’s stakeholder outreach and engagement campaign about the BIM.

Shaikh Khalifa said: “The Bahrain Investment Market’s innovative trading platform unlocks previously untapped and potentially lucrative opportunities for institutional and individual investors around the world to invest in proven businesses that are ready to take the next step in their growth and share in their future success.

“In offering dedicated, reliable and efficient capital markets platforms, the Bahrain Bourse gives the private sector an even broader range of capital-raising solutions to select from in order to fuel its future growth and development. It is important that the banking sector is aware of these investment options and how they work together towards a building a private sector that is more dynamic and sustainable,” Shaikh Khalifa added.

The Bahrain’s Investment Market was officially launched in March 2017. It is specifically designed for companies who are looking to raise capital to fund their future growth, such as entrepreneurial ventures and mature family businesses. Among its numerous benefits and features are easier admission and financial disclosure rules, access to global investors, guidance services through specialized professional advisory firms, and a dedicated Tamkeen support program.

“The Bahrain Investment Market model is an integrated world-class ecosystem which is accessible to companies and equipped with the necessary safeguards to protect investors. We placed great importance on ensuring end-to-end transparency to allow investors to quickly evaluate and benchmark the eligible companies, from the initial listing documents to audited financial reports after listing,” Shaikh Khalifa noted.

Operated by the BHB and licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, the Bahrain Investment Market is underpinned by a national financial regulatory framework that ranks among the very best in the world and complemented by one of the world’s top countries in terms of ease of doing business, the statement said.

According to the Index of Economic Freedom 2016, a report published by The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation which evaluates countries in four broad policy areas that affect economic freedom, Bahrain ranks 18th globally and is the only country from the Mena region to feature in the Top 20.

The report noted the ability of foreign and domestic investors have access to modern financial services, the presence of a streamlined regulatory framework, allowance for 100 per cent foreign ownership, as well as other factors, the statement said.

BAB chairman Adnan Ahmed Yousif commented: “These kind of seminars comes within the association’s role to ensure that its members are up to date with the investment opportunities available in the Kingdom of Bahrain and to strength networking and relations with the various economic and financial organization.   As the representative body of Bahrain’s financial institutions, we view the Bahrain Investment Market as a significant addition to the kingdom’s already well-regarded financial sector, as it adds to the diversity of available financial services and products and strengthens Bahrain’s position as a leading regional and global financial hub.”

Bahrain’s financial sector includes over 400 financial institutions which contribute just over 17 per cent towards Bahrain’s $31.1 billion GDP. – TradeArabia News Service