OVERVIEW: The total spending on IT within the past couple of years constitutes only around 4% of the total GDP, and rising. The total amount spent on local and foreign investments in the island stand at $230 Million and a large chunk of that spending is associated with Batelco (Bahrain Telecommunications company). (1)

 

The Bahraini IT market with the coming of major players within this sector is becoming more and more competive day by day. A large chunk of the local GDP and therefore, direct Revenue earnings in the Islands are attributed to the fast rising IT industry, supported by the telecommunications sector. Bahrain has slowly but surely come on the forefront of Information Technology and the computer industry in general. The island is regarded as the prominent financial hub in the Middle East, and therefore most of the IT market in the country is based on the needs and wants of the banking sector. In fact, the IT sector within Banking provides Bahrain more than one fourth of its total GDP and is a growing factor with the passage of time. The current IT sector in Bahrain is supported by the fast growing telecommunications infrastructure, which is also regarded as the most developed in the entire region.

 

(1) Mazen Al-marzooq, "Mantaq for computers"; Manama, Bahrain, 2003.