Italy has a longstanding presence in Bahrain, whose industrial development, beginning in the 70s and 80s, was based largely on Italian machinery and technology. More recently, competition from new Asian players have rendered this market more complex for Italian companies, but the penetration potential remains high.
Trade between Italy and Bahrain grew also in 2018 reaching the peak of € 530 million, of which € 251 million (increase of +0,2% compared to previous year) related to the Italian export to Bahrain, and € 278 million of imports to Italy from Bahrain, an increase of 150% compared to 2017. The ISTAT statistics for bilateral trade in 2018 showed an increase of around 46%. The Italian export quotas are allocated to the following sectors: mechanical engineering, equipments, metals, transport, wood works and products, textiles and clothing, food products. Imports from Bahrain consist mainly of rafined products and metals (alluminium).
In terms of investment, 2016 has seen the first operation in Italy by the Bahraini sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat. On the Italian side, there are several companies interested in investment and business opportunities in the key economic sectors of Bahrain, namely Oil&Gas, infrastructure / construction, tourism and manufacturing.
Italian Trade Commission
Section of the Italian Embassy
P.O.Box 4188
Embassy of Italy
Area Qatar University
Doha - Qatar
doha@ice.it
Tel. +974 44836695 / 44210593
Fax +974 44212515
www.ice.gov.it/paesi/asia/qatar/ufficio.htm?sede
