{"id":3540,"date":"2017-03-27T07:24:42","date_gmt":"2017-03-27T06:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3540"},"modified":"2017-04-04T09:16:03","modified_gmt":"2017-04-04T08:16:03","slug":"exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Exporting to Bahrain &#8211; everything you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bahrain is one of the most important economic partners and bases for UK companies in the Gulf and the two nations have always had a very strong bilateral commercial relationship.<\/p>\n<p>It can be notoriously difficult to do business in certain areas of the Middle East but Bahrain is relatively relaxed, having the freest economy in the area and the most liberalised in the Gulf Cooperation Council (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gcc-sg.org\/eng\/\" target=\"_blank\">GCC<\/a>).\u00a0Bahrain is one of the UK\u2019s largest export markets in the <abbr title=\"Gulf Cooperatrion Council\">GCC and the\u00a0<\/abbr>UK exported \u00a3295.5 million in goods to Bahrain in 2014, up\u00a09% on 2013.\u00a0The total value of bilateral trade in 2014 was also up from 2013, it rose by 2% to \u00a3451.4 million.<\/p>\n<p>Around 100 UK companies have set up base in Bahrain as the country is a major trading hub and financial centre in the region, with one of the most open economies and a liberal tax regime.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>The pros and cons of exporting to Bahrain<\/h2>\n<p>Bahrain\u2019s Gross Domestic Product (<abbr title=\"Gross Domestic Product\">GDP<\/abbr>) grew by 4.8% in 2013 and is then by a further\u00a03.7% in 2014, and strengths of the market include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>competitive operational costs<\/li>\n<li>well regulated financial services sector<\/li>\n<li>advanced logistics services<\/li>\n<li>dedicated industrial zones<\/li>\n<li>educated and skilled local workforce<\/li>\n<li>high quality of life for foreign residents<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And the benefits for British companies doing business in Bahrain include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>good communication links<\/li>\n<li>direct access into Saudi Arabia via causeway<\/li>\n<li>most liberal tax regime in the Gulf<\/li>\n<li>100% foreign ownership of business assets and real estate allowed with no \u2018free-zone\u2019 restrictions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On the downside, there are certain challenges faced by UK businesses exporting to Bahrain, notably:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>delays in payment<\/li>\n<li>bureaucracy within government agencies, especially for getting licenses<\/li>\n<li>need to employ a certain quota of Bahrainis to comply with Bahrainisation rules, which aim to improve local employment prospects and reduce reliance on imported labour<\/li>\n<li>government documentation in Arabic<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The top 5 UK exports to Bahrain in 2014 were:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>nuclear reactors, boilers and mechanical appliances<\/li>\n<li>road vehicles<\/li>\n<li>electrical machinery and equipment<\/li>\n<li>optical, photographic and cinematographic, and medical instruments<\/li>\n<li>articles of apparel and clothing accessories<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And don\u2019t forget, if you\u2019re going to do business in Bahrain,\u00a0you\u2019ll need a reliable and cost effective <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/conference-call\" target=\"_blank\">conference call<\/a> provider \u2013 here\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/how-to-set-up-a-conference-call-between-bahrain-and-uk\/\" target=\"_blank\">how to set up a conference call between the UK and Bahrain<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QXNgOOpHqLg\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Tax and customs\u00a0in Bahrain<\/h2>\n<h3>Tax<\/h3>\n<p>Bahrain has a double taxation agreement with the UK and ithas the lowest corporate and personal taxes in the GCC. This means there are very few indirect taxes and no personal income tax, wealth tax on capital gains, nor any withholding tax.<\/p>\n<h3>Customs<\/h3>\n<p>Any British company looking to export goods into Bahrain for sale or consumption must get a general licence from the Customs Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Interior.<\/p>\n<p>The GCC\u2019s Common Customs Law sets the framework for the GCC\u2019s import regulations, but each member state administers its own list of prohibited, restricted and exempted products. Exporters who want to re-export within the other GCC markets must refer to individual member states\u2019 lists for full information.<\/p>\n<p>A Certificate of Origin is needed for all exports to clear customs.<\/p>\n<p>Goods manufactured in Israel cannot be imported into Bahrain.<\/p>\n<p>Customs duties are usually 5% for imported goods, but alcohol and tobacco are subject to higher duties. There are many food and medical items that are completely exempt from customs duty, but may require special licensing.<\/p>\n<p>Exemptions also include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Goods for re-export<\/li>\n<li>Capital goods<\/li>\n<li>Raw materials for manufacturing imports required for development projects.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You may also need some product specific documentation if you&#8217;re importing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Drugs and medicines<\/li>\n<li>Food products<\/li>\n<li>Live animals<\/li>\n<li>Meat, poultry, animal products and bi-products<\/li>\n<li>Special permits may also be required for certain products, such as special breed horses, armaments, and insecticides.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you have any questions regarding documentation, get in touch with\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.customs.gov.bh\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bahrain Customs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Image from <a href=\"https:\/\/pablo.buffer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Pablo <\/a>by Buffer.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1777 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/conference-call-banner.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"118\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bahrain is one of the most important economic partners and bases for UK companies in the Gulf and the two nations have always had a very strong bilateral commercial relationship.<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know\/\">Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Exporting to Bahrain &#8211; everything you need to know<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,2,7],"tags":[23,29,24],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Exporting to Bahrain | ConferenceCall.co.uk blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bahrain is one of the most important economic partners and bases for UK companies in the Gulf - here&#039;s all you need to know about exporting to Bahrain.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exporting to Bahrain | ConferenceCall.co.uk blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ConferenceCall.co.uk blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Conference-Call-UK\/178511498997826\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-27T06:24:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-04-04T08:16:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Bahrain-airplane.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Les Roberts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LesRobertsMedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ConfCallUK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Les Roberts\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know\/\",\"name\":\"Exporting to Bahrain | ConferenceCall.co.uk blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-27T06:24:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-04T08:16:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fd51b09e17d75360ba18197c2c1c535b\"},\"description\":\"Bahrain is one of the most important economic partners and bases for UK companies in the Gulf - here's all you need to know about exporting to Bahrain.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Exporting to Bahrain &#8211; everything you need to know\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"ConferenceCall.co.uk blog\",\"description\":\"Conference calling made easy\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fd51b09e17d75360ba18197c2c1c535b\",\"name\":\"Les Roberts\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d887807fb3eaf5e8705c4d4f1328df3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d887807fb3eaf5e8705c4d4f1328df3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Les Roberts\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LesRobertsMedia\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/author\/les\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Exporting to Bahrain | ConferenceCall.co.uk blog","description":"Bahrain is one of the most important economic partners and bases for UK companies in the Gulf - here's all you need to know about exporting to Bahrain.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Exporting to Bahrain | ConferenceCall.co.uk blog","og_url":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know\/","og_site_name":"ConferenceCall.co.uk blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Conference-Call-UK\/178511498997826","article_published_time":"2017-03-27T06:24:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-04-04T08:16:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Bahrain-airplane.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Les Roberts","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@LesRobertsMedia","twitter_site":"@ConfCallUK","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Les Roberts","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know\/","url":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know\/","name":"Exporting to Bahrain | ConferenceCall.co.uk blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-03-27T06:24:42+00:00","dateModified":"2017-04-04T08:16:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fd51b09e17d75360ba18197c2c1c535b"},"description":"Bahrain is one of the most important economic partners and bases for UK companies in the Gulf - here's all you need to know about exporting to Bahrain.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/exporting-to-bahrain-everything-you-need-to-know\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Exporting to Bahrain &#8211; everything you need to know"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/","name":"ConferenceCall.co.uk blog","description":"Conference calling made easy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fd51b09e17d75360ba18197c2c1c535b","name":"Les Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d887807fb3eaf5e8705c4d4f1328df3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d887807fb3eaf5e8705c4d4f1328df3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Les Roberts"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/LesRobertsMedia"],"url":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/author\/les\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3540"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3540"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3559,"href":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3540\/revisions\/3559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}