Around 39 percent of the companies supported by Export Bahrain are owned or run by Bahrain women, according to Ms. Fatima Rostam, Manager of Business Development and Export Solutions.
She also stated that 50 percent of those companies were exporting their products or services to regional or international markets for the first time, and the Bahraini women had the largest share of goods selling in 20 new international markets.
Ms. Rostam made these comments during a Ramadan Council organized by the Supreme Council for Women.
Export Bahrain collaborates with local and international partners to provide Bahraini businesses with global markets, visibility, expertise, and solutions. “Since its inception in 2018, Export Bahrain has facilitated exports of products worth more than $74 million to international markets,” she added.
Furthermore, Ms. Rostam remarked that Bahraini women-owned businesses exported their goods and services to 51 countries after the reopening of borders that were closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. “Canada, Mexico, Seychelles, Tanzania, Brazil, and New Zealand are some of the markets reached in addition to the main export markets of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Kuwait, and Jordan,” she said during the virtual meeting.
Mr. Muhammad Al-Hammadi, Director of the Supreme Council for Women’s Media Center, has explained that these businesses deal with food, clothes, cosmetics, interior design, sports training, and other areas, as well as Bahraini businesswomen have gained entry into new markets.
Ms. Rostom has emphasized the importance of the memorandum of understanding signed by the Supreme Council for Women and Export Bahrain and thanked the council for helping Bahraini businesswomen, referring to the number of first-time exporters.
According to Ms. Rostum, the number of women working in the export sector in this country is over 80 percent. “Women also occupies all of the leadership positions of the authority,” she added.
