Bahrain's workforce hailed by US report

The organisation praised the success of Bahrain's efforts to modernise its labour market stating that the resultant increased productivity is key to future economic growth.

The Growing Beyond Oil report concluded that Bahrain's labour productivity rate was 20% higher than that of Oman, its nearest competitor, and more than five times above the GCC average. The study also identified that Bahrain achieved the highest GDP per capita and the highest multi-factor productivity in the Gulf since 2000.

Bahrain's performance is especially strong when viewed in regional context: Gulf States have recently experienced steady economic growth due largely to an inflow of expatriates. In contrast, Bahrain's economic growth is based on rapidly increasing labour productivity and therefore is more sustainable.

The report acknowledged that Bahrain's labour force has become one of the most skilled in the Arab world. Education is compulsory and free for the Kingdom's entire population and Bahrain's literacy rate stands at 85%, one of the highest in the region. The Kingdom has a long-term commitment to develop a modern and highly skilled workforce that is capable of competing with economies across the world.

Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al-Khalifa, chief executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board commented:

"These excellent results reflect the great strides Bahrain has made towards modernising and liberalising our economy, and training and educating our native workforce. Businesses operating in Bahrain are capitalising on the availability of the most highly-skilled native workforce in the region. The workforce of the banking sector alone is comprised of 73% of Bahrainis, 27% of which are Bahraini women."

He added, "Through further liberalisation reforms and skills investment we are making Bahrain the Gulf's most attractive destination for both business and highly-skilled workers."

Bahrain's superiority in labour productivity reflects its long-held regional leadership in education and labour market reforms. Bahrain has been at the vanguard of educational progress within the region, establishing the Gulf's first public education system in 1919 and giving its female population equal access to the Kingdom's educational resources.

In June of this year, the Bahrain Labour Fund's Human Capital Development initiative announced that, to date, it had invested in excess of $75m (BD28m) to provide over 11,000 Bahraini nationals with world-class training over the next four years. The initiative extends to improving the skills of nationals entering the labour market as well as existing employees.

Bahrain's vibrant education sector continues to expand and excel with the Royal University for Women joining the country's 15 other universities in 2005. The State continues to provide free and compulsory basic schooling for the children of both nationals and expatriates, and 2001's National Action Charter introduced a new curriculum with greater emphasis on citizenship and human rights.

Bahrain is also consistently one of the top Middle Eastern countries in the United Nations Development Program's annual index on human development. This reflects the fact that Bahrain is a superior environment for both national and expatriate workers, with a higher standard of living, assistance for business and state provision of public goods than elsewhere in the Gulf.