Bahrain begins construction on United States Trade Zone

Bahrain has begun construction on the United States Trade Zone (USTZ) which will be located at the Salman Industrial City.

The USTZ will be initially spread across approximately 1.11 million sq m with the ability to expand in the future and will be built at a cost of around BHD75m. The USTZ is expected to become operational by 2025.

Bahrain and the US will start promoting the zone as a regional center for trade, manufacturing, logistics and distribution among American companies in the kingdom, as well as in GCC markets and beyond, according to the Bahrain News Agency.

An MoU was signed in 2021, establishing the trade zone which will reportedly contribute to boosting economic, commercial and industrial cooperation and support bilateral trade exchanges between the two countries.

The USTZ will facilitate export operations through Khalifa Bin Salman Port, Bahrain International Airport and King Fahd Causeway or through any other ports established in in the kingdom via specialised customs solutions.

“The availability of economic opportunities in the region is an ideal opportunity for American companies to invest and expand their business through the American trade zone in Bahrain”, said Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.

Bahrain and the US entered in to a Free Trade agreement in 2006. As part of that agreement, 100 percent of the two-way trade in industrial and consumer products flow between the two countries without any tariffs.

The USTZ is an integral part of the kingdom’s economic recovery plans, and specifically the Industrial Sector Strategy that it launched in December last year. As part of the strategy, the kingdom aims to increase the industrial sector’s contribution to the 14.5 per cent of GDP to BHD2.544bn by 2026. The new strategy also aims to increase the percentage of contribution to overall exports to 80.1 per cent, amounting to BHD2.475bn by 2026.