Bahrain continues to empower SMEs to drive economic growth
Bahrain awarded 769 tenders in the first half of 2020 worth a total of US$ 1.7bn according to new data released by Bahrain’s Tender Board, the country’s government procurement regulator.
The construction and engineering sector took the lion’s share of contracts in the first six months of the year, with awarded tenders totalling some US$ 588.3mn, emphasizing the Bahrain Government’s continued commitment to its extensive pipeline of infrastructure projects.
The construction and engineering sector was followed by the oil and gas sector; the materials and equipment sector; and then the services sector, which saw a total of US$ 416.3mn, US$ 292.6mn and US$ 202.4mn of awarded tenders respectively. The aviation sector brought up the rear, with awards worth US$ 172.2mn in the same period.
“Bahrain awarded a total of 47 public tenders worth a combined US$ 21.8mn to Small and Medium Enterprises SMEs as per the Cabinet decision to assign some public spending to the SME sector,” stressed Shaikh Nayef Bin Khalid Al Khalifa, Chairman of Tender Board.
In terms of the tender value, Tatweer Petroleum topped the list for the awarded tenders, worth a total of US$ 396.5mn followed by the Electricity and Water Authority with awarded bids worth some US$ 305.3mn. Tatweer Petroleum is responsible for all upstream operations in the Kingdom, including oil and gas exploration, development, and production activities.
Some of the key service projects relate to the Ministry of Housing, worth a combined US$ 238mn, as well as some US$ 297mn worth of awarded bids in the fields of sewage works, infrastructure and electricity and water services.
