Bahrain Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in bahrain, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Trade Agreements
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The Bahraini government is a member of the WTO and the GCC.  Bahrain has bilateral and economic agreements with over 40 countries, including free trade agreements with the United States, Singapore (GSFTA), at www.enterprisesg.gov.sg/non-financial-assistance/for-singapore-companies/free-trade-agreements/ftas/overview and the EFTA States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway & Switzerland) China, France, India, and the United Kingdom at www.efta.int.  It also has duty-free access to the 17 Arab states party to the Greater Arab Free Trade Agreement (GAFTA: www.medea.be/en/themes/economy-and-trade/arab-free-trade-area-afta).

Bahrain has also signed agreements regarding:

  • Promotion and protection of investment with 34 countries
  • Avoidance of double taxation with 41 countries
  • Reciprocal exemption of international air transport with 6 countries
  • Economic, trade, and technical cooperation with 31 countries

Bahrain implemented the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement with the United States in August 2006, the first FTA between the United States and a Gulf state.  Bahrain’s trade balance relies on adding value to imported raw materials and exporting refined hydrocarbon products.  A large share of exports consists of petroleum products made from imported crude oil.  Bahrain also has substantial aluminum production.  Bahrain’s main trading partners include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, the People’s Republic of China, and Japan.

For information on FTA partner countries, including how to take advantage of an FTA, please visit the FTA Help Center.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

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The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

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The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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