Chennai: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India rose to $42 billion last year, a six per cent rise, said the annual World Investment Report (WIR) released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
It said India held the largest share of South Asia’s $54 billion total. Bahrain also saw an identical six per cent increase to $1.5 billion in 2018.
India’s USD 42 billion also represented a 6 per cent rise from the previous year, as well as the largest share of South Asia’s $54 billion total.
The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) hosted the launch of the report this year, which charts global investment flows, analyses trade trends and examines government policies that seek to expand world trade.
According to provisional FDI data from Bahrain’s Investment and e-government Authority Foreign Investment Survey 2018, strongest inflows were seen in manufacturing, communication, financial services and cross-border merger and acquisition (M & A) activities, NewsVoir reported.
Incidentally, Bahrain’s $1.5 billion is mainly due to growing interest in the manufacturing sector, said the report. In 2018 both Devji Aurum (India) and Mondelez International (United States) set up manufacturing facilities in Bahrain International Investment Park, a special economic zone (SEZ).
The two companies were amongst 32 new or expanding businesses choosing Bahrain for their manufacturing, transport or logistics hub that year.
Bahrain is continuously developing the air, sea, and road networks to facilitate entry of imports, as well as reducing complexity of procedures, and the speed of the customs process means businesses can clear their goods in less than 24 hours, the report said.
The Kingdom’s rich heritage as a trading nation, superior infrastructure connectivity and de facto status as the gateway into MENA are all qualities highly prized by overseas investors, it added.
According to the report, SEZs are the theme of WIR 2019, and South Asia has more than 200 zones in the pipeline.
“The UN report is yet another affirmation of Bahrain’s growing attractiveness to investors from around the world. It is unsurprising that so much investment has come from our friends in India. We couldn’t be more delighted with the rise of the Bahrain-India Business Corridor and our growing economic cooperation, not just in Tech, but also in other sectors, like manufacturing and real estate, which form a fundamental part of our investment strategy,” Dharmi Magdani, Regional Director for the EDB in India.