Manama: The Economic Development Board (EDB), the country’s Investment Promotion Agency (IPA), was recognised by the international economic development organisation OCO Globalfor its resilience in responding to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, ranking 6th top global IPA with the most resilience to add new source markets in the 2021 OCO Global Innovation Index.
The EDB also ranked 2nd, alongside Invest Denmark and Invest HK (Hong Kong), in the technology sub-index, highlighting the EDB’s efforts in using technology to attract, facilitate and promote investment.
The 2021 OCO Global IPA Innovation Index evaluated 20 leading global IPAs on whether they made a positive change in response to Covid-19 based on strategic planning, operations in new sectors and markets, and use of technology in managing clients’ relationships, virtual events, and conferences.
The EDB’s mandate is to attract investments in order to create jobs in the local market. Despite the challenges faced due to the pandemic, the EDB was able to attract BHD333 million in direct investments in 2020 which will create over 4,300 jobs over the next three years.
Last year, several prominent companies launched operations in the Kingdom, with investment from leading local, regional and international companies in key sectors including financial services, manufacturing, logistics services, education, healthcare services, real estate, tourism, and ICT.
