Economy Profile
Bahrain
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 1
Economy Profile of
Bahrain
Doing Business 2020 Indicators
(in order of appearance in the document)
Starting a business
Procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital to start a limited liability company
Dealing with construction permits
Procedures, time and cost to complete all formalities to build a warehouse and the quality control and safety
mechanisms in the construction permitting system
Getting electricity
Procedures, time and cost to get connected to the electrical grid, and the reliability of the electricity supply and
the transparency of tariffs
Registering property
Procedures, time and cost to transfer a property and the quality of the land administration system
Getting credit
Movable collateral laws and credit information systems
Protecting minority investors
Minority shareholders’ rights in related-party transactions and in corporate governance
Paying taxes
Payments, time, total tax and contribution rate for a firm to comply with all tax regulations as well as postfiling
processes
Trading across borders
Time and cost to export the product of comparative advantage and import auto parts
Enforcing contracts
Time and cost to resolve a commercial dispute and the quality of judicial processes
Resolving insolvency
Time, cost, outcome and recovery rate for a commercial insolvency and the strength of the legal framework for
insolvency
Employing workers
Flexibility in employment regulation and redundancy cost
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 2
About Doing Business
The
project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and
regional level.
Doing Business
The
project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life
cycle.
Doing Business
captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local firms. It provides quantitative indicators on regulation for
starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across
borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.
also measures features of employing workers. Although
does not present rankings
of economies on the employing workers indicators or include the topic in the aggregate ease of doing business score or ranking on the ease of doing business, it does
present the data for these indicators.
Doing Business
Doing Business Doing Business
By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time,
encourages
economies to compete towards more efficient regulation; offers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector
researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy.
Doing Business
In addition,
offers detailed
, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in different cities and regions within a nation.
These studies provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Selected
cities can compare their business regulations with other cities in the economy or region and with the 190 economies that
has ranked.
Doing Business
subnational studies
Doing Business
The first
study, published in 2003, covered 5 indicator sets and 133 economies. This year’s study covers 11 indicator sets and 190 economies. Most
indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of each economy, except for 11 economies that have a population of more than 100 million as of 2013
(Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the United States) where
also collected data
for the second largest business city. The data for these 11 economies are a population-weighted average for the 2 largest business cities. The project has benefited from
feedback from governments, academics, practitioners and reviewers. The initial goal remains: to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the
regulatory environment for business around the world.
Doing Business
Doing Business
To learn more about
please visit
Doing Business
doingbusiness.org
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 3
Ease of Doing Business in
Bahrain
Region
Middle East & North Africa
Income Category
High income
Population
1,569,439
City Covered
Manama
43
DB RANK DB SCORE
76.0
Rankings on Doing Business topics -
Bahrain
67
17
72
17
94
51
1
77
59
60
Starting
a
Business
Dealing
with
Construction
Permits
Getting
Electricity
Registering
Property
Getting
Credit
Protecting
Minority
Investors
Paying
Taxes
Trading
across
Borders
Enforcing
Contracts
Resolving
Insolvency
Topic Scores
89.6 83.1 79.7 86.2 55.0 66.0 100.0 78.7 63.8 58.2
(rank)
Starting a Business
67
Score of starting a business (0-100)
89.6
Procedures (number)
6.5
Time (days)
8.5
Cost (number)
1
Paid-in min. capital (% of income per capita)
2.9
(rank)
Dealing with Construction Permits
17
Score of dealing with construction permits (0-100)
83.1
Procedures (number)
9
Time (days)
71
Cost (% of warehouse value)
3.7
Building quality control index (0-15)
12.0
(rank)
Getting Electricity
72
Score of getting electricity (0-100)
79.7
Procedures (number)
5
Time (days)
69
Cost (% of income per capita)
57.4
Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index (0-8)
6
(rank)
Registering Property
17
Score of registering property (0-100)
86.2
Procedures (number)
2
Time (days)
2
Cost (% of property value)
1.7
Quality of the land administration index (0-30)
19.5
(rank)
Getting Credit
94
Score of getting credit (0-100)
55.0
Strength of legal rights index (0-12)
3
Depth of credit information index (0-8)
8
Credit registry coverage (% of adults)
0.0
Credit bureau coverage (% of adults)
40.9
(rank)
Protecting Minority Investors
51
Score of protecting minority investors (0-100)
66.0
Extent of disclosure index (0-10)
8.0
Extent of director liability index (0-10)
4.0
Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10)
5.0
Extent of shareholder rights index (0-6)
5.0
Extent of ownership and control index (0-7)
7.0
Extent of corporate transparency index (0-7)
4.0
(rank)
Paying Taxes
1
Score of paying taxes (0-100)
100
Payments (number per year)
3
Time (hours per year)
23
Total tax and contribution rate (% of profit)
13.8
Postfiling index (0-100)
(rank)
Trading across Borders
77
Score of trading across borders (0-100)
78.7
Time to export
Documentary compliance (hours)
24
Border compliance (hours)
59
Cost to export
Documentary compliance (USD)
100
Border compliance (USD)
47
Time to export
Documentary compliance (hours)
60
Border compliance (hours)
42
Cost to export
Documentary compliance (USD)
130
Border compliance (USD)
397
(rank)
Enforcing Contracts
59
Score of enforcing contracts (0-100)
63.8
Time (days)
635
Cost (% of claim value)
14.7
Quality of judicial processes index (0-18)
9.0
(rank)
Resolving Insolvency
60
Score of resolving insolvency (0-100)
58.2
Recovery rate (cents on the dollar)
41.3
Time (years)
2.5
Cost (% of estate)
9.5
Outcome (0 as piecemeal sale and 1 as going
concern)
0
Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16)
11.5
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 4
Starting a Business
This topic measures the number of procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital requirement for a small- to medium-sized limited liability company to start up and
formally operate in each economy’s largest business city.
To make the data comparable across 190 economies,
uses a standardized business that is 100% domestically owned, has start-up capital equivalent to
10 times the income per capita, engages in general industrial or commercial activities and employs between 10 and 50 people one month after the commencement of
operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. Starting a Business considers two types of local limited liability companies that are identical in all aspects, except that one
company is owned by 5 married women and the other by 5 married men. The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their
scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators.
Doing Business
The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2019.
.
See the methodology for more information
What the indicators measure
Procedures to legally start and formally operate a company
(number)
Preregistration (for example, name verification or reservation,
notarization)
•
Registration in the economy’s largest business city
•
Postregistration (for example, social security registration,
company seal)
•
Obtaining approval from spouse to start a business or to leave
the home to register the company
•
Obtaining any gender specific document for company
registration and operation or national identification card
•
Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days)
Does not include time spent gathering information
•
Each procedure starts on a separate day (2 procedures cannot
start on the same day)
•
Procedures fully completed online are recorded as ½ day
•
Procedure is considered completed once final document is
received
•
No prior contact with officials
•
Cost required to complete each procedure (% of income per
capita)
Official costs only, no bribes
•
No professional fees unless services required by law or
commonly used in practice
•
Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita)
•
Funds deposited in a bank or with third party before registration
or up to 3 months after incorporation
Case study assumptions
To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the business and the
procedures are used. It is assumed that any required information is readily available and that the
entrepreneur will pay no bribes.
The business:
-Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). If there is more than one type of limited
liability company in the economy, the limited liability form most common among domestic firms is
chosen. Information on the most common form is obtained from incorporation lawyers or the
statistical office.
-Operates in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for
the second largest business city.
-Performs general industrial or commercial activities such as the production or sale to the public of
goods or services. The business does not perform foreign trade activities and does not handle
products subject to a special tax regime, for example, liquor or tobacco. It is not using heavily
polluting production processes.
-Does not qualify for investment incentives or any special benefits.
-Is 100% domestically owned.
-Has five business owners, none of whom is a legal entity. One business owner holds 30% of the
company shares, two owners have 20% of shares each, and two owners have 15% of shares
each.
-Is managed by one local director.
-Has between 10 and 50 employees one month after the commencement of operations, all of them
domestic nationals.
-Has start-up capital of 10 times income per capita.
-Has an estimated turnover of at least 100 times income per capita.
-Leases the commercial plant or offices and is not a proprietor of real estate.
-Has an annual lease for the office space equivalent to one income per capita.
-Is in an office space of approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet).
-Has a company deed that is 10 pages long.
The owners:
-Have reached the legal age of majority and are capable of making decisions as an adult. If there
is no legal age of majority, they are assumed to be 30 years old.
-Are in good health and have no criminal record.
-Are married, the marriage is monogamous and registered with the authorities.
-Where the answer differs according to the legal system applicable to the woman or man in
question (as may be the case in economies where there is legal plurality), the answer used will be
the one that applies to the majority of the population.
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 5
Starting a Business - Bahrain
Figure – Starting a Business in Bahrain – Score
Procedures
67.7
Time
92.0
Cost
99.5
Paid-in min. capital
99.3
Figure – Starting a Business in Bahrain and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Starting a Business Score
0 100
93.5: Oman (Rank: 32)
89.6: Bahrain (Rank: 67)
88.4: Kuwait (Rank: 82)
86.1: Qatar (Rank: 108)
84.5: Jordan (Rank: 120)
84.0: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa)
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of
the scores for each of the component indicators.
Standardized Company
Legal form
With Limited Liability (WLL)
Paid-in minimum capital requirement
BHD 250
City Covered
Manama
Indicator
Best Regulatory
Performance
Procedure – Men (number)
6
6.5
4.9
1 (2 Economies)
Time – Men (days)
8
19.7
9.2
0.5 (New Zealand)
Cost – Men (% of income per capita)
1.0
16.7
3.0
0.0 (2 Economies)
Procedure – Women (number)
7
7.1
4.9
1 (2 Economies)
Time – Women (days)
9
20.3
9.2
0.5 (New Zealand)
Cost – Women (% of income per capita)
1.0
16.7
3.0
0.0 (2 Economies)
Paid-in min. capital (% of income per capita)
2.9
8.9
7.6
0.0 (120 Economies)
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 6
Figure – Starting a Business in Bahrain – Procedure, Time and Cost
This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure.
*
Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the
time for women. For more information on methodology, see the
website (
). For details on the procedures
reflected here, see the summary below.
Doing Business
http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology
Procedures (number)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Time (days)
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
Cost (% of income per capita)
Time (days) Cost (% of income per capita)
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 7
Details – Starting a Business in Bahrain – Procedure, Time and Cost
Applies to women only.
Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure.
No.
Procedures
Time to Complete
Associated Costs
1
APPLIES TO WOMEN ONLY: Obtain husband's approval to leave home
: Domicile
Agency
According to article 54 a) of the Family Law ( Law 19 of 2017) a married woman will not be entitled
to alimony if she leaves the residency without permission of husband or for non-permitted
purposes.
1 day
no charge
2
Draft standard Memorandum of Association and obtain preliminary approval from the
Ministry of Commerce
: Commercial Registration Portal
Agency
The entrepreneur obtains preliminary approval from the Ministry of Commerce by presenting the
required documents to the Commercial Registration Portal at https://www.sijilat.bh/.
The required documents are:
(1) Certificate of Incorporation
(2) Draft Memorandum of Association.
(3) Board of directors resolution resolving to establish the company in Bahrain (for corporate
partners).
(4) National ID card (Central Population Registry (CPR)) copies of the company's representatives.
If the partners are not present themselves to register the company, copies of the ID cards of their
lawyers/other representatives must be provided.
(5) Lease agreement as proof of the company's commercial address.
(6) Last audited financial report of corporate partners.
1 day
no charge
3
Obtain lease approval from the Municipality
: Commercial Registration Portal
Agency
The lease agreement is required to obtain preliminary approval from the Municipality. If the
entrepreneur decides to use the services of an attorney, it is common practice to use the address
of the law firm until a lease is obtained within 3 months. Corporate offices can only be established
in buildings with a commercial license (not residential). Once the lease is signed with the landlord
on official documents, the contract can then be submitted on the website of the Commercial
Registration Portal (www.sijilat.bh/).
The location of the company must be approved by the Municipality. A visit to the relevant
Municipality is required to finalize the lease approval.
3 days
BHD 10
4
Notarize Memorandum of Association
: Notary
Agency
Once the registration approval has been obtained from the Ministry of Commerce and the
Municipality, the Memorandum of Association must be notarized by a notary public. A notary is
available at the Ministry of Justice booth at the BIC one-stop shop.
1 day
BHD 27
5
Open an account at the bank and obtain proof of deposit of capital
: Bank
Agency
The capital has to be deposited in an account at a commercial bank and proof of deposit must be
obtained. Commercial bank branches are available at the BIC one-stop-shop.
1 day
no charge
6
Obtain Certificate of Registration from Ministry of Commerce
: Bahrain Investment Center (BIC) one-stop shop at Ministry of Industry and Commerce
Agency
Once the municipality has given its approval, a capital deposit certificate has been issued by the
bank, and the memorandum of association has been notarized, the entrepreneur returns to the
Ministry of Commerce to obtain the Certificate of Registration (CR) from the Bahrain Investment
Center one-stop-shop. The certificate of registration can also be obtained online.
1 day
BHD 50
7
Register the company and employees with the General Organisation for Social Insurance
(GOSI)
: General Organisation for Social Insurance
Agency
The documents required for registration are:
(1) Copy of employer’s Central Population Registry (CPR)
(2) Copy of the Certificate of Registration (CR)
(3) Copy of company contract
1 day
no charge
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 8
Dealing with Construction Permits
This topic tracks the procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse—including obtaining necessary the licenses and permits, submitting all required notifications,
requesting and receiving all necessary inspections and obtaining utility connections. In addition, the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator measures the building
quality control index, evaluating the quality of building regulations, the strength of quality control and safety mechanisms, liability and insurance regimes, and professional
certification requirements. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2019.
See the methodology for more information
What the indicators measure
Procedures to legally build a warehouse (number)
Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining all necessary
clearances, licenses, permits and certificates
•
Submitting all required notifications and receiving all necessary
inspections
•
Obtaining utility connections for water and sewerage
•
Registering and selling the warehouse after its completion
•
Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days)
Does not include time spent gathering information
•
Each procedure starts on a separate day—though procedures
that can be fully completed online are an exception to this rule
•
Procedure is considered completed once final document is
received
•
No prior contact with officials
•
Cost required to complete each procedure (% of income per
capita)
Official costs only, no bribes
•
Building quality control index (0-15)
Quality of building regulations (0-2)
•
Quality control before construction (0-1)
•
Quality control during construction (0-3)
•
Quality control after construction (0-3)
•
Liability and insurance regimes (0-2)
•
Professional certifications (0-4)
•
Case study assumptions
To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the construction
company, the warehouse project and the utility connections are used.
The construction company (BuildCo):
- Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) and operates in the economy’s largest
business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city.
- Is 100% domestically and privately owned; has five owners, none of whom is a legal entity. Has a
licensed architect and a licensed engineer, both registered with the local association of architects
or engineers. BuildCo is not assumed to have any other employees who are technical or licensed
experts, such as geological or topographical experts.
- Owns the land on which the warehouse will be built and will sell the warehouse upon its
completion.
The warehouse:
- Will be used for general storage activities, such as storage of books or stationery.
- Will have two stories, both above ground, with a total constructed area of approximately 1,300.6
square meters (14,000 square feet). Each floor will be 3 meters (9 feet, 10 inches) high and will be
located on a land plot of approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) that is 100%
owned by BuildCo, and the warehouse is valued at 50 times income per capita.
- Will have complete architectural and technical plans prepared by a licensed architect. If
preparation of the plans requires such steps as obtaining further documentation or getting prior
approvals from external agencies, these are counted as procedures.
- Will take 30 weeks to construct (excluding all delays due to administrative and regulatory
requirements).
The water and sewerage connections:
- Will be 150 meters (492 feet) from the existing water source and sewer tap. If there is no water
delivery infrastructure in the economy, a borehole will be dug. If there is no sewerage
infrastructure, a septic tank in the smallest size available will be installed or built.
- Will have an average water use of 662 liters (175 gallons) a day and an average wastewater flow
of 568 liters (150 gallons) a day. Will have a peak water use of 1,325 liters (350 gallons) a day and
a peak wastewater flow of 1,136 liters (300 gallons) a day.
- Will have a constant level of water demand and wastewater flow throughout the year; will be 1
inch in diameter for the water connection and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection.
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 9
Dealing with Construction Permits - Bahrain
Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Bahrain – Score
Procedures
84.0
Time
87.0
Cost
81.5
Building quality control index
80.0
Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Bahrain and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Dealing with Construction Permits Score
0 100
84.2: Qatar (Rank: 13)
83.1: Bahrain (Rank: 17)
75.2: Oman (Rank: 47)
71.9: Kuwait (Rank: 68)
61.7: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa)
60.3: Jordan (Rank: 138)
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of dealing with construction permits is determined by sorting their scores for dealing with construction permits. These scores
are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators.
Standardized Warehouse
Estimated value of warehouse
BHD 427,201.20
City Covered
Manama
Indicator
Best Regulatory
Performance
Procedures (number)
9
15.7
12.7
None in 2018/19
Time (days)
71
123.6
152.3
None in 2018/19
Cost (% of warehouse value)
3.7
4.4
1.5
None in 2018/19
Building quality control index (0-15)
12.0
12.5
11.6
15.0 (6 Economies)
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 10
Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Bahrain – Procedure, Time and Cost
This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure.
*
Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the
time for women. For more information on methodology, see the
website (
). For details on the procedures
reflected here, see the summary below.
Doing Business
http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology
Procedures (number)
1 * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 * 9
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Time (days)
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
Cost (% of warehouse value)
Time (days) Cost (% of warehouse value)
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 11
Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Bahrain and comparator economies – Measure of Quality
Bahrain Jordan Kuwait Oman Qatar Middle
East
&
North
Africa
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Index score
12.0
11.0
14.0
11.0
13.0
12.5
Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Bahrain – Procedure, Time and Cost
No.
Procedures
Time to Complete
Associated Costs
1
Obtain a land survey from a private consultant
: Private consultant
Agency
A private consultant can be hired to provide this service. The surveyor puts the beacons and
draws an electronic map of the land. The government plans to undertake reforms in this area, in
particular with regards to fee structure and approval process.
2 days
BHD 80
2
Hire an external certified consultant to obtain the building permit and supervise
construction
: Private Firm
Agency
BuildCo must hire an external consultant office (licensed and registered) to design the project,
obtain for a building permit and supervise the project.
1 day
BHD 15,000
3
Obtain final building permit
: Municipality
Agency
The new "Benayat" online platform has been lunched, through which all construction permit
applications and documents are submitted. BuildCo would have to submit all the documents and
complete the application online. Then BuildCo selects another licensed engineering firm who will
review the submitted documents.
The required documents include:
- Detailed Drawings (structural drawings; sewage engineering drawings; Water network internal
maps if applicable; cross section drawings)
- Letter from owner
- Copy of Title Deed
- Copy of property owner's (or his representative/ inheritors) ID cards
- Valid and latest land survey certificate
- General Directorate of Civil Defense Form
- Recent photo of the site
Once the application is reviewed by the other licensed firm, it is then routed, in parallel, to 3
government entities:
- Sanitary Engineering Planning and Projects Directorate (SEPPD) will receive an application to
determine compatibility of connection .
- Water Distribution Directorate (WDD) will determine availability of water network:
• If the network is not available: WDD will inform applicants of the estimated connection date in the
issued building permit
• If the network is available but there is a mismatch in flow capacity, WDD will provide applicants
with the expected connection date
- Electricity Distribution Directorate (EDD) will determine electricity load availability and inform
applicants through the electronic system the estimated connection date if the load is not available.
EDD will also perform a site inspection to identify any cable network conflict
These government agencies provide comments regarding the submitted documents and once all
the comments are addressed BuildCo pays the fees and obtains the permit.
30 days
BHD 529
4
Request and receive final inspection from Civil Defense
: Civil Defense
Agency
According to Article 75 of the Building Regulations: "It is allowed to construct linked or semi-linked
stores and warehouses, on condition that the approval of civil defense is obtained with respect to
the specifications of the emergency exits, gathering points and other of the security and safety
requirements in emergency cases such as fire with noticing the easiness of movement among the
stores' groups."
1 day
no charge
5
Receive final inspection from the Municipality
: Municipality
Agency
Upon completion of construction, an inspection from the Municipality is required.
1 day
no charge
6
Obtain certificate of completion from the Muncipality
: Municipality
Agency
After the inspection, the certificate of completion is obtained with which the power connection can
be installed.
4 days
BHD 39
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 12
Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure.
7
Obtain an Address Certificate
: Central Information Organization (CIO)
Agency
The Address Cards are usually issued by the CIO - Central Information Organization based on
Municipal list. It is usually issued before completion and final connection of power and services.
The following documents must be submitted to obtain the Address Cards: the building permit,
stamped drawings and municipal list have to fully match before the Address Cards are issued.
2 days
BHD 1
8
Obtain water connection
: Ministry of Water and Electricity - Water Distribution Directorate
Agency
BuildCo obtains the water connection through the one-stop shop during the building permit
approval process. Cost is BHD 25.00 for a 1/2 inch connection.
30 days
BHD 25
9
Obtain sewage connection
: Ministry of Works - Sewage Planning Directorate
Agency
If construction is in a pre-zoned area of the city, there is already a planned manhole provision. The
construction company can connect directly.
Documents required for the sewage connection are:
• Land deed/certificate of survey (if available) obtained from the Land Registration Ministry of
Justice & Islamic Affairs/Survey Land Registration Bureau
• Site location plan obtained from the Ministry of Municipalities & Agriculture
• Layout plan which shows all the proposed internal plumbing and drainage obtained from
Consulting Office/Owner
• Copy of the CPR card obtained from Central Statistics
• Copy of the address card obtained from Ministry of Municipalities & Agriculture
• Copy of the building permit (if issued before consulting SEPPD) obtained from the Ministry of
Municipalities & Agriculture
• Sewer connection application form obtained from Sanitary Engineering Planning & Projects
Directorate (SEPPD)
30 days
BHD 150
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 13
Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Bahrain – Measure of Quality
Answer
Score
Building quality control index (0-15)
12.0
Quality of building regulations index (0-2)
2.0
How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1)
Available online; Free
of charge; In official
gazette.
1.0
Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly specified in the building regulations or on any
accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1)
List of required
documents; Fees to
be paid; Required
preapprovals.
1.0
Quality control before construction index (0-1)
1.0
Which third-party entities are required by law to verify that the building plans are in compliance with existing
building regulations? (0-1)
Licensed architect;
Licensed engineer;
Private firm.
1.0
Quality control during construction index (0-3)
2.0
What types of inspections (if any) are required by law to be carried out during construction? (0-2)
Inspections by in-
house engineer;
Inspections by
external engineer or
firm; Inspections at
various phases.
1.0
Do legally mandated inspections occur in practice during construction? (0-1)
Mandatory
inspections are
always done in
practice; Inspections
are not mandated by
law but commonly
occur in practice
during construction.
1.0
Quality control after construction index (0-3)
3.0
Is there a final inspection required by law to verify that the building was built in accordance with the approved
plans and regulations? (0-2)
Yes, final inspection
is done by
government agency.
2.0
Do legally mandated final inspections occur in practice? (0-1)
Final inspection
always occurs in
practice.
1.0
Liability and insurance regimes index (0-2)
1.0
Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural flaws or problems in the building once it is in use
(Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1)
Architect or engineer;
Professional in
charge of the
supervision;
Construction
company.
1.0
Which parties (if any) are required by law to obtain an insurance policy to cover possible structural flaws or
problems in the building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability Insurance or Decennial Insurance)? (0-1)
No party is required
by law to obtain
insurance .
0.0
Professional certifications index (0-4)
3.0
What are the qualification requirements for the professional responsible for verifying that the architectural plans
or drawings are in compliance with existing building regulations? (0-2)
University degree in
architecture or
engineering; Being a
registered architect or
engineer.
1.0
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 14
What are the qualification requirements for the professional who supervises the construction on the ground? (0-
2)
Minimum number of
years of experience;
University degree in
engineering,
construction or
construction
management; Being
a registered architect
or engineer.
2.0
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 15
Getting Electricity
This topic measures the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse. Additionally,
the reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tariffs and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data
collection for the project was completed in May 2019.
.
See the methodology for more information
What the indicators measure
Procedures to obtain an electricity connection (number)
Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining all necessary
clearances and permits
•
Completing all required notifications and receiving all necessary
inspections
•
Obtaining external installation works and possibly purchasing
material for these works
•
Concluding any necessary supply contract and obtaining final
supply
•
Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days)
Is at least 1 calendar day
•
Each procedure starts on a separate day
•
Does not include time spent gathering information
•
Reflects the time spent in practice, with little follow-up and no
prior contact with officials
•
Cost required to complete each procedure (% of income per
capita)
Official costs only, no bribes
•
Value added tax excluded
•
The reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index (0-8)
Duration and frequency of power outages (0–3)
•
Tools to monitor power outages (0–1)
•
Tools to restore power supply (0–1)
•
Regulatory monitoring of utilities’ performance (0–1)
•
Financial deterrents limiting outages (0–1)
•
Transparency and accessibility of tariffs (0–1)
•
Price of electricity (cents per kilowatt-hour)*
Price based on monthly bill for commercial warehouse in case
study
•
*Note:
measures the price of electricity, but it is
not included in the ease of doing business score nor in the ranking
on the ease of getting electricity.
Doing Business
Case study assumptions
To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the warehouse, the
electricity connection and the monthly consumption are used.
The warehouse:
- Is owned by a local entrepreneur and is used for storage of goods.
- Is located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for
the second largest business city.
- Is located in an area where similar warehouses are typically located and is in an area with no
physical constraints. For example, the property is not near a railway.
- Is a new construction and is being connected to electricity for the first time.
- Has two stories with a total surface area of approximately 1,300.6 square meters (14,000 square
feet). The plot of land on which it is built is 929 square meters (10,000 square feet).
The electricity connection:
- Is a permanent one with a three-phase, four-wire Y connection with a subscribed capacity of 140-
kilo-volt-ampere (kVA) with a power factor of 1, when 1 kVA = 1 kilowatt (kW).
- Has a length of 150 meters. The connection is to either the low- or medium-voltage distribution
network and is either overhead or underground, whichever is more common in the area where the
warehouse is located and requires works that involve the crossing of a 10-meter road (such as by
excavation or overhead lines) but are all carried out on public land. There is no crossing of other
owners’ private property because the warehouse has access to a road.
- Does not require work to install the internal wiring of the warehouse. This has already been
completed up to and including the customer’s service panel or switchboard and the meter base.
The monthly consumption:
- It is assumed that the warehouse operates 30 days a month from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (8 hours
a day), with equipment utilized at 80% of capacity on average and that there are no electricity cuts
(assumed for simplicity reasons) and the monthly energy consumption is 26,880 kilowatt-hours
(kWh); hourly consumption is 112 kWh.
- If multiple electricity suppliers exist, the warehouse is served by the cheapest supplier.
- Tariffs effective in January of the current year are used for calculation of the price of electricity for
the warehouse. Although January has 31 days, for calculation purposes only 30 days are used.
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 16
Getting Electricity - Bahrain
Figure – Getting Electricity in Bahrain – Score
Procedures
66.7
Time
77.8
Cost
99.3
Reliability of supply and transparency of
tariff index
75.0
Figure – Getting Electricity in Bahrain and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Getting Electricity Score
0 100
87.1: Oman (Rank: 35)
83.6: Qatar (Rank: 49)
81.9: Kuwait (Rank: 66)
80.5: Jordan (Rank: 69)
79.7: Bahrain (Rank: 72)
72.4: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa)
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting electricity is determined by sorting their scores for getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the
scores for all the component indicators except the price of electricity.
Figure – Getting Electricity in Bahrain – Procedure, Time and Cost
This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure.
*
Procedures (number)
1 * 2 3 * 4 5
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Time (days)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Cost (% of income per capita)
Time (days) Cost (% of income per capita)
Standardized Connection
Name of utility
Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) (Electricity Distribution Directorate, EDD
at the MEW)
Price of electricity (US cents per kWh)
6.0
City Covered
Manama
Indicator
Best Regulatory
Performance
Procedures (number)
5
4.4
4.4
3 (28 Economies)
Time (days)
69
63.5
74.8
18 (3 Economies)
Cost (% of income per capita)
57.4
419.6
61.0
0.0 (3 Economies)
Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index (0-8)
6
4.4
7.4
8 (26 Economies)
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 17
Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the
time for women. For more information on methodology, see the
website (
). For details on the procedures
reflected here, see the summary below.
Doing Business
http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology
Figure – Getting Electricity in Bahrain and comparator economies – Measure of Quality
Bahrain Jordan Kuwait Oman Qatar Middle
East
&
North
Africa
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Index score
6 6 6
7
5
4.4
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 18
Details – Getting Electricity in Bahrain – Procedure, Time and Cost
Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure.
No.
Procedures
Time to Complete
Associated Costs
1
Submit application to Electricity Distribution Directorate and await external inspection
: Electrical contractor licensed by the Electricity and Water Authority
Agency
The client needs to first hire an electrical contractor licensed with the Ministry of Electricity and
Water. There are different grades for electricians depending on the type of installations.
The applicant fills out an application form and submits it online with all the required documents
uploaded to the Electricity and Water Authority's internal archive software (called File Net) for the
Electricity Distribution Directorate (EDD) to process.
The following documents should be attached to the application form:
• copy of ID card or passport;
• copy of the commercial register;
• copy of building permit certificate;
• copy of address specifying card;
• ownership deed;
• certificate of completion of the building from the local municipality; and
• description summary of the project with the projected load details
7 calendar days
BHD 0
2
Obtain external inspection by Electricity Distribution Directorate
: Electricity and Water Authority
Agency
The client needs to then wait for the utility conduct the site inspection.
1 calendar day
BHD 0
3
Obtain external works from Electricity Distribution Directorate’s contractor
: Electricity and Water Authority
Agency
The utility assigns a contractor to be in charge of the external works and obtains the excavation
permit through its online application system. The contractor then inspects the site to determine the
specifics of the connection and prepares an estimate of the connection fees.
The contractor will lay out cables from the warehouse to the closest substation.
60 calendar days
BHD 4,900
4
Obtain internal wiring inspection by Electricity Distribution Directorate
: Electricity and Water Authority
Agency
The Inspection Department of EDD will conduct a site inspection to verify the compliance of the
internal wiring with the existing regulations. The inspector will then fill out an Electrical Installation
Completion & Test Certificate form.
1 calendar day
BHD 0
5
Obtain meter installation and final connection by Electricity Distribution Directorate
: Electricity and Water Authority
Agency
Upon completion of the internal inspection, the meter will be installed by the inspector. At that
time, the client is required to present the Electrical Installation Completion certificate obtained in
procedure 4.
2 calendar days
BHD 0
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 19
Details – Getting Electricity in Bahrain – Measure of Quality
Note:
If the duration and frequency of outages is 100 or less, the economy is eligible to score on the Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index.
If the duration and frequency of outages is not available, or is over 100, the economy is not eligible to score on the index.
If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index.
Answer
Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index (0-8)
6
Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0-3)
3
System average interruption duration index (SAIDI)
0.9
System average interruption frequency index (SAIFI)
0.7
What is the minimum outage time (in minutes) that the utility considers for the calculation of SAIDI/SAIFI
1.0
Mechanisms for monitoring outages (0-1)
1
Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages?
Yes
Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1)
1
Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service?
Yes
Regulatory monitoring (0-1)
0
Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on reliability of supply?
No
Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0-1)
0
Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face fines by the regulator (or both) if outages exceed a certain cap?
No
Communication of tariffs and tariff changes (0-1)
1
Are effective tariffs available online?
Yes
Link to the website, if available online
http://www.ewa.bh/en/Cus
tomer/BillsTariffs/electricit
y-water-tariffs
Are customers notified of a change in tariff ahead of the billing cycle?
Yes
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 20
Registering Property
This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a
building that is already registered and free of title dispute. In addition, the topic also measures the quality of the land administration system in each economy. The quality
of land administration index has five dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access
to property rights. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2019.
.
See the methodology for more information
What the indicators measure
Procedures to legally transfer title on immovable property
(number)
Preregistration procedures (for example, checking for liens,
notarizing sales agreement, paying property transfer taxes)
•
Registration procedures in the economy's largest business city.
•
Postregistration procedures (for example, filling title with
municipality)
•
Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days)
Does not include time spent gathering information
•
Each procedure starts on a separate day - though procedures
that can be fully completed online are an exception to this rule
•
Procedure is considered completed once final document is
received
•
No prior contact with officials
•
Cost required to complete each procedure (% of property
value)
Official costs only (such as administrative fees, duties and
taxes).
•
Value Added Tax, Capital Gains Tax and illicit payments are
excluded
•
Quality of land administration index (0-30)
Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8)
•
Transparency of information index (0–6)
•
Geographic coverage index (0–8)
•
Land dispute resolution index (0–8)
•
Equal access to property rights index (-2–0)
•
Case study assumptions
To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the parties to the
transaction, the property and the procedures are used.
The parties (buyer and seller):
- Are limited liability companies (or the legal equivalent).
- Are located in the periurban (that is, on the outskirts of the city but still within its official limits)
area of the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the
second largest business city.
- Are 100% domestically and privately owned.
- Perform general commercial activities.
The property (fully owned by the seller):
- Has a value of 50 times income per capita, which equals the sale price.
- Is fully owned by the seller.
- Has no mortgages attached and has been under the same ownership for the past 10 years.
- Is registered in the land registry or cadastre, or both, and is free of title disputes.
- Is located in a periurban commercial zone (that is, on the outskirts of the city but still within its
official limits), and no rezoning is required.
- Consists of land and a building. The land area is 557.4 square meters (6,000 square feet). A two-
story warehouse of 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) is located on the land. The warehouse
is 10 years old, is in good condition, has no heating system and complies with all safety standards,
building codes and legal requirements. The property, consisting of land and building, will be
transferred in its entirety.
- Will not be subject to renovations or additional construction following the purchase.
- Has no trees, natural water sources, natural reserves or historical monuments of any kind.
- Will not be used for special purposes, and no special permits, such as for residential use,
industrial plants, waste storage or certain types of agricultural activities, are required.
- Has no occupants, and no other party holds a legal interest in it.
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 21
Registering Property - Bahrain
Figure – Registering Property in Bahrain – Score
Procedures
91.7
Time
99.5
Cost
88.6
Quality of the land administration index
65.0
Figure – Registering Property in Bahrain and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Registering Property Score
0 100
96.2: Qatar (Rank: 1)
86.2: Bahrain (Rank: 17)
75.1: Kuwait (Rank: 45)
73.0: Oman (Rank: 52)
66.4: Jordan (Rank: 78)
63.4: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa)
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of registering property is determined by sorting their scores for registering property. These scores are the simple average of
the scores for each of the component indicators.
Indicator
Best Regulatory
Performance
Procedures (number)
2
5.4
4.7
1 (5 Economies)
Time (days)
2
26.6
23.6
1 (2 Economies)
Cost (% of property value)
1.7
5.6
4.2
0.0 (Saudi Arabia)
Quality of the land administration index (0-30)
19.5
14.6
23.2
None in 2018/19
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 22
Figure – Registering Property in Bahrain – Procedure, Time and Cost
This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure.
*
Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the
time for women. For more information on methodology, see the
website (
). For details on the procedures
reflected here, see the summary below.
Doing Business
http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology
Procedures (number)
1 2
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
Time (days)
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
Cost (% of property value)
Time (days) Cost (% of property value)
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 23
Figure – Registering Property in Bahrain and comparator economies – Measure of Quality
Bahrain Jordan Kuwait Oman Qatar Middle
East
&
North
Africa
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Index score
19.5
22.5
18.5
17.0
26.0
14.6
Details – Registering Property in Bahrain – Procedure, Time and Cost
Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure.
No.
Procedures
Time to Complete
Associated Costs
1
Notarize the sale agreement/contract with the Ministry of Justice Notary at the Survey &
Land Registration Bureau.
: Ministry of Justice notary (sitting at the Survey and Land registration Bureau)
Agency
The seller and purchaser of the property (or their legal representatives) must appear at the notary
from the Ministry of Justice (sitting at the Survey and Land registration Bureau) to sign the Sale of
Purchase Agreement. The original title deed evidencing that the seller has ownership of the
property must be shown to the notary at the time of signing the Sale of Purchase Agreement.
1 day
BHD 15; (for 4 notarized
copies of the Sale of
Purchase Agreement)
2
Register the title deed with the purchaser's name at the Survey & Land Registration Bureau
: Survey & Land Registration Bureau
Agency
After the Sale of Property Agreement has been notarized, the following documents are submitted
to the Survey and Land Registration Bureau:
(1) 1 notarized Sale of Property Agreement;
(2) Valid Commercial Registration Certificate of the Purchaser;
(3) Memorandum of Association and amendments (if any)
(4) Payment to the Survey and Land Registration Bureau (fee BD 1) for the land registration form
Law No. 13 of 2013 Property Registration Law ("New Law") established new registration fees. The
New Law set a flat registration fee of 2% on all property sales regardless of the purchase price
(15% discount of the registration fee for applications submitted within 60 days of execution of sale
agreement).
1 day
BHD 7,263.42; (1.7% of
property value Within 60
Days from selling
agreement (Discounted
Value including the 15%
discount for applications
submitted within 60 days
of execution of the sale
agreement).
2% of property value after
60 Days
1 BD for the Land
Registration Form)
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 24
Details – Registering Property in Bahrain – Measure of Quality
Answer
Score
Quality of the land administration index (0-30)
19.5
Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8)
6.0
Type of land registration system in the economy:
Title Registration
System
What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration?
Survey and Land
Registration Bureau
In what format are past and newly issued land records kept at the immovable property registry of the largest
business city of the economy —in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)?
Computer/Scanned
1.0
Is there a comprehensive and functional electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages,
restrictions and the like)?
Yes
1.0
Institution in charge of the plans showing legal boundaries in the largest business city:
Survey and Land
Registration Bureau
In what format are past and newly issued cadastral plans kept at the mapping agency of the largest business
city of the economy—in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)?
Computer/Scanned
1.0
Is there an electronic database for recording boundaries, checking plans and providing cadastral information
(geographic information system)?
Yes
1.0
Is the information recorded by the immovable property registration agency and the cadastral or mapping agency
kept in a single database, in different but linked databases or in separate databases?
Different databases
but linked
1.0
Do the immovable property registration agency and cadastral or mapping agency use the same identification
number for properties?
Yes
1.0
Transparency of information index (0–6)
3.5
Who is able to obtain information on land ownership at the agency in charge of immovable property registration
in the largest business city?
Only intermediaries
and interested parties
0.0
Is the list of documents that are required to complete any type of property transaction made publicly available–
and if so, how?
Yes, online
0.5
Link for online access:
https://www.slrb.gov.b
h/informationcenter/d
etails/?
PageId=109&PageId
2=38&ChnlId2=25
Is the applicable fee schedule for any type of property transaction at the agency in charge of immovable
property registration in the largest business city made publicly available–and if so, how?
Yes, online
0.5
Link for online access:
https://www.slrb.gov.b
h/informationcenter/d
etails/?
PageId=108&PageId
2=37&ChnlId2=25
There is an online
calculator to calculate
transaction fees at:
https://www.slrb.gov.b
h/applications/feecalc
Does the agency in charge of immovable property registration agency formally commit to deliver a legally
binding document that proves property ownership within a specific timeframe –and if so, how does it
communicate the service standard?
Yes, online
0.5
Link for online access:
https://www.slrb.gov.b
h/informationcenter/G
eneralInfoDetail/?
pageid=1073&pageid
2=1074&ChnlId=41&
ChnlId2=17
Is there a specific and independent mechanism for filing complaints about a problem that occurred at the agency
in charge of immovable property registration?
Yes
1.0
Contact information:
www.bahrain.bh/tawa
sul
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 25
Are there publicly available official statistics tracking the number of transactions at the immovable property
registration agency?
No
0.0
Number of property transfers in the largest business city in 2018:
Who is able to consult maps of land plots in the largest business city?
Only intermediaries
and interested parties
0.0
Is the applicable fee schedule for accessing maps of land plots made publicly available—and if so, how?
Yes, online
0.5
Link for online access:
All maps can be
bought online at
http://www.slrb.gov.bh
/CommerceSite/defau
lt.aspx
Does the cadastral/mapping agency formally specifies the timeframe to deliver an updated cadastral plan—and
if so, how does it communicate the service standard?
No
0.0
Link for online access:
Is there a specific and independent mechanism for filing complaints about a problem that occurred at the
cadastral or mapping agency?
Yes
0.5
Contact information:
www.bahrain.bh/tawa
sul
Geographic coverage index (0–8)
4.0
Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city formally registered at the immovable property
registry?
Yes
2.0
Are all privately held land plots in the economy formally registered at the immovable property registry?
Yes
2.0
Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city mapped?
No
0.0
Are all privately held land plots in the economy mapped?
No
0.0
Land dispute resolution index (0–8)
6.0
Does the law require that all property sale transactions be registered at the immovable property registry to make
them opposable to third parties?
Yes
1.5
Legal basis:
Article 17 of Law
No.13 of 2013
Property Registration
Law requires
registration of
property sale
transactions and
according to Article
18, any property
transactions that are
not registered shall
not have any effect
Is the system of immovable property registration subject to a state or private guarantee?
Yes
0.5
Type of guarantee:
State guarantee
Legal basis:
Articles 13, 14 and 17
of Registration Law
13/2013
Is there a is a specific, out-of-court compensation mechanism to cover for losses incurred by parties who
engaged in good faith in a property transaction based on erroneous information certified by the immovable
property registry?
No
0.0
Legal basis:
Civil Law 19/2001
Does the legal system require a control of legality of the documents necessary for a property transaction (e.g.,
checking the compliance of contracts with requirements of the law)?
Yes
0.5
If yes, who is responsible for checking the legality of the documents?
Registrar; Notary;
Does the legal system require verification of the identity of the parties to a property transaction?
Yes
0.5
If yes, who is responsible for verifying the identity of the parties?
Registrar; Notary;
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 26
Is there a national database to verify the accuracy of government issued identity documents?
Yes
1.0
What is the Court of first instance in charge of a case involving a standard land dispute between two local
businesses over tenure rights for a property worth 50 times gross national income (GNI) per capita and located
in the largest business city?
Civil Court
How long does it take on average to obtain a decision from the first-instance court for such a case (without
appeal)?
Between 1 and 2
years
2.0
Are there publicly available statistics on the number of land disputes at the economy level in the first instance
court?
No
0.0
Number of land disputes in the economy in 2018:
Equal access to property rights index (-2–0)
0.0
Do unmarried men and unmarried women have equal ownership rights to property?
Yes
Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property?
Yes
0.0
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 27
Getting Credit
This topic explores two sets of issues—the strength of credit reporting systems and the effectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy laws in facilitating lending. The most
recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2019.
.
See the methodology for more information
What the indicators measure
Strength of legal rights index (0–12)
Rights of borrowers and lenders through collateral laws (0-10)
•
Protection of secured creditors’ rights through bankruptcy laws
(0-2)
•
Depth of credit information index (0–8)
Scope and accessibility of credit information distributed by
credit bureaus and credit registries (0-8)
•
Credit bureau coverage (% of adults)
Number of individuals and firms listed in largest credit bureau
as a percentage of adult population
•
Credit registry coverage (% of adults)
Number of individuals and firms listed in credit registry as a
percentage of adult population
•
Case study assumptions
assesses the sharing of credit information and the legal rights of borrowers and
lenders with respect to secured transactions through 2 sets of indicators. The depth of credit
information index measures rules and practices affecting the coverage, scope and accessibility of
credit information available through a credit registry or a credit bureau. The strength of legal rights
index measures the degree to which collateral and bankruptcy laws protect the rights of borrowers
and lenders and thus facilitate lending. For each economy it is first determined whether a unitary
secured transactions system exists. Then two case scenarios, case A and case B, are used to
determine how a nonpossessory security interest is created, publicized and enforced according to
the law. Special emphasis is given to how the collateral registry operates (if registration of security
interests is possible). The case scenarios involve a secured borrower, company ABC, and a
secured lender, BizBank.
Doing Business
In some economies the legal framework for secured transactions will allow only case A or case B
(not both) to apply. Both cases examine the same set of legal provisions relating to the use of
movable collateral.
Several assumptions about the secured borrower (ABC) and lender (BizBank) are used:
- ABC is a domestic limited liability company (or its legal equivalent).
- ABC has up to 50 employees.
- ABC has its headquarters and only base of operations in the economy’s largest business city. For
11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city.
- Both ABC and BizBank are 100% domestically owned.
The case scenarios also involve assumptions. In case A, as collateral for the loan, ABC grants
BizBank a nonpossessory security interest in one category of movable assets, for example, its
machinery or its inventory. ABC wants to keep both possession and ownership of the collateral. In
economies where the law does not allow nonpossessory security interests in movable property,
ABC and BizBank use a fiduciary transfer-of-title arrangement (or a similar substitute for
nonpossessory security interests).
In case B, ABC grants BizBank a business charge, enterprise charge, floating charge or any
charge that gives BizBank a security interest over ABC’s combined movable assets (or as much of
ABC’s movable assets as possible). ABC keeps ownership and possession of the assets.
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 28
Getting Credit - Bahrain
Figure – Getting Credit in Bahrain – Score
Score - Getting Credit
55.0
Figure – Getting Credit in Bahrain and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Getting Credit Score
0 100
95.0: Jordan (Rank: 4)
55.0: Bahrain (Rank: 94)
45.0: Kuwait (Rank: 119)
45.0: Qatar (Rank: 119)
41.8: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa)
35.0: Oman (Rank: 144)
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting credit is determined by sorting their scores for getting credit. These scores are the sum of the scores for the
strength of legal rights index and the depth of credit information index.
Indicator
Best Regulatory
Performance
Strength of legal rights index (0-12)
3
3.1
6.1
12 (5 Economies)
Depth of credit information index (0-8)
8
5.3
6.8
8 (53 Economies)
Credit registry coverage (% of adults)
0.0
15.8
24.4
100.0 (2 Economies)
Credit bureau coverage (% of adults)
40.9
16.3
66.7
100.0 (14 Economies)
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 29
Figure – Legal Rights in Bahrain and comparator economies
Bahrain Jordan Kuwait Oman Qatar Middle
East
&
North
Africa
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Index Score
3
11
1 1 1
3.1
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 30
Details – Legal Rights in Bahrain
Strength of legal rights index (0-12)
3
Does an integrated or unified legal framework for secured transactions that extends to the creation, publicity and enforcement of functional equivalents
to security interests in movable assets exist in the economy?
No
Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in a single category of movable assets, without requiring a specific description
of collateral?
No
Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in substantially all of its assets, without requiring a specific description of
collateral?
No
May a security right extend to future or after-acquired assets, and does it extend automatically to the products, proceeds and replacements of the
original assets?
No
Is a general description of debts and obligations permitted in collateral agreements; can all types of debts and obligations be secured between parties;
and can the collateral agreement include a maximum amount for which the assets are encumbered?
Yes
Is a collateral registry in operation for both incorporated and non-incorporated entities, that is unified geographically and by asset type, with an
electronic database indexed by debtor's name?
No
Does a notice-based collateral registry exist in which all functional equivalents can be registered?
No
Does a modern collateral registry exist in which registrations, amendments, cancellations and searches can be performed online by any interested third
party?
No
Are secured creditors paid first (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a debtor defaults outside an insolvency procedure?
No
Are secured creditors paid first (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a business is liquidated?
Yes
Are secured creditors subject to an automatic stay on enforcement when a debtor enters a court-supervised reorganization procedure? Does the law
protect secured creditors’ rights by providing clear grounds for relief from the stay and sets a time limit for it?
Yes
Does the law allow parties to agree on out of court enforcement at the time a security interest is created? Does the law allow the secured creditor to sell
the collateral through public auction or private tender, as well as, for the secured creditor to keep the asset in satisfaction of the debt?
No
Figure – Credit Information in Bahrain and comparator economies
Bahrain Jordan Kuwait Oman Qatar Middle
East
&
North
Africa
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Index Score
8 8 8
6
8
5.3
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 31
Details – Credit Information in Bahrain
Note: An economy receives a score of 1 if there is a "yes" to either bureau or registry. If the credit bureau or registry is not operational or covers less than 5% of the adult
population, the total score on the depth of credit information index is 0.
Depth of credit information index (0-8)
Credit bureau
Credit registry
Score
Are data on both firms and individuals distributed?
Yes
No
1
Are both positive and negative credit data distributed?
Yes
No
1
Are data from retailers or utility companies - in addition to data from banks and
financial institutions - distributed?
Yes
No
1
Are at least 2 years of historical data distributed? (Credit bureaus and registries
that distribute more than 10 years of negative data or erase data on defaults as
soon as they are repaid obtain a score of 0 for this component.)
Yes
No
1
Are data on loan amounts below 1% of income per capita distributed?
Yes
No
1
By law, do borrowers have the right to access their data in the credit bureau or
credit registry?
Yes
No
1
Can banks and financial institutions access borrowers’ credit information online
(for example, through an online platform, a system-to-system connection or
both)?
Yes
No
1
Are bureau or registry credit scores offered as a value-added service to help
banks and financial institutions assess the creditworthiness of borrowers?
Yes
No
1
Coverage
Credit bureau
Credit registry
Number of individuals
351,084
0
Number of firms
151,812
0
Total
502,896
0
Percentage of adult population
40.9
0.0
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 32
Protecting Minority Investors
This topic measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against misuse of corporate assets by directors for their personal gain as well as shareholder rights,
governance safeguards and corporate transparency requirements that reduce the risk of abuse. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed
in May 2019.
.
See the methodology for more information
What the indicators measure
: Disclosure, review, and
approval requirements for related-party transactions
•
Extent of disclosure index (0–10)
: Ability of minority
shareholders to sue and hold interested directors liable for
prejudicial related-party transactions; Available legal
remedies (damages, disgorgement of profits, disqualification
from managerial position(s) for one year or more, rescission of
the transaction)
•
Extent of director liability index (0–10)
: Access to internal
corporate documents; Evidence obtainable during trial and
allocation of legal expenses
•
Ease of shareholder suits index (0–10)
Sum of
the extent of disclosure, extent of director liability and ease of
shareholder suits indices
•
Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0-30):
: Shareholders’ rights
and role in major corporate decisions
•
Extent of shareholder rights index (0-6)
: Governance
safeguards protecting shareholders from undue board control
and entrenchment
•
Extent of ownership and control index (0-7)
: Corporate
transparency on ownership stakes, compensation, audits and
financial prospects
•
Extent of corporate transparency index (0-7)
: Sum
of the
extent of shareholders rights, extent of ownership and control
and extent of corporate transparency indices
•
Extent of shareholder governance index (0–20)
: Sum
of the extent of conflict of interest regulation and extent of
shareholder governance indices
•
Strength of minority investor protection index (0–50)
Case study assumptions
To make the data comparable across economies, a case study uses several assumptions about
the business and the transaction.
- Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the economy’s most important stock exchange.
- Has a board of directors and a chief executive officer (CEO) who may legally act on behalf of
Buyer where permitted, even if this is not specifically required by law.
- Has a supervisory board in economies with a two-tier board system on which Mr. James
appointed 60% of the shareholder-elected members.
- Has not adopted bylaws or articles of association that go beyond the minimum requirements.
Does not follow codes, principles, recommendations or guidelines that are not mandatory.
- Is a manufacturing company with its own distribution network.
The business (Buyer):
- Mr. James owns 60% of Buyer, sits on Buyer’s board of directors and elected two directors to
Buyer’s five-member board.
- Mr. James also owns 90% of Seller, a company that operates a chain of retail hardware stores.
Seller recently closed a large number of its stores.
- Mr. James proposes that Buyer purchase Seller’s unused fleet of trucks to expand Buyer’s
distribution of its food products, a proposal to which Buyer agrees. The price is equal to 10% of
Buyer’s assets and is higher than the market value.
- The proposed transaction is part of the company’s principal activity and is not outside the
authority of the company.
- Buyer enters into the transaction. All required approvals are obtained, and all required disclosures
made—that is, the transaction was not entered into fraudulently.
- The transaction causes damages to Buyer. Shareholders sue Mr. James and the executives and
directors that approved the transaction.
The transaction involves the following details:
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 33
Protecting Minority Investors - Bahrain
Figure – Protecting Minority in Bahrain – Score
Score - Protecting Minority Investors
66.0
Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Bahrain and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Protecting Minority Investors Score
0 100
66.0: Bahrain (Rank: 51)
66.0: Kuwait (Rank: 51)
56.0: Oman (Rank: 88)
51.9: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa)
50.0: Jordan (Rank: 105)
28.0: Qatar (Rank: 157)
Note: The ranking of economies on the strength of minority investor protections is determined by sorting their scores for protecting minority investors. These scores are
the simple average of the scores for the extent of conflict of interest regulation index and the extent of shareholder governance index.
Stock exchange information
Stock exchange
Bahrain Bourse
Stock exchange URL
https://www.bahrainbourse.com
Listed firms with equity securities
41
City Covered
Manama
Indicator
Best Regulatory
Performance
Extent of disclosure index (0-10)
8.0
6.4
6.5
10 (13 Economies)
Extent of director liability index (0-10)
4.0
4.8
5.3
10 (3 Economies)
Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10)
5.0
4.7
7.3
10 (Djibouti)
Extent of shareholder rights index (0-6)
5.0
3.2
4.7
6 (19 Economies)
Extent of ownership and control index (0-7)
7.0
3.6
4.5
7 (9 Economies)
Extent of corporate transparency index (0-7)
4.0
3.5
5.7
7 (13 Economies)
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 34
Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Bahrain and comparator economies – Measure of Quality
Bahrain
Jordan
Kuwait
Oman
Qatar
OECD high income
Middle East & North Africa
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Sub-Indicator Score
4 4 8 7 5 5
6 4 4 6 2 3
7 9 5 6 2 4
3 5 8 5 4 3
3 2 2 2 3 2
5.6 5.6 6.6 4.3 4.5 7.4
3.5 4.8 6.4 3.6 3.2 4.7
Extent of corporate transparency index (0-7) Extent of director liability index (0-10) Extent of disclosure index (0-10) Extent of ownership and control index (0-7)
Extent of shareholder rights index (0-6) Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10)
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 35
Details – Protecting Minority Investors in Bahrain – Measure of Quality
Answer
Score
Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0-30)
Extent of disclosure index (0-10)
8.0
Whose decision is sufficient to approve the Buyer-Seller transaction? (0-3)
Board of directors
excluding interested
members
2.0
Must an external body review the terms of the transaction before it takes place? (0-1)
No
0.0
Must Mr. James disclose his conflict of interest to the board of directors? (0-2)
Full disclosure of all
material facts
2.0
Must Buyer disclose the transaction in periodic filings (e.g. annual reports)? (0-2)
Disclosure on the
transaction and on
the conflict of interest
2.0
Must Buyer immediately disclose the transaction to the public? (0-2)
Disclosure on the
transaction and on
the conflict of interest
2.0
Extent of director liability index (0-10)
4.0
Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital sue for the damage the transaction caused to
Buyer? (0-1)
Yes
1.0
Can shareholders hold Mr. James liable for the damage the transaction caused to Buyer? (0-2)
Liable if negligent
1.0
Can shareholders hold the other directors liable for the damage the transaction caused to Buyer? (0-2)
Liable if negligent
1.0
Must Mr. James pay damages for the harm caused to Buyer upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-1)
Yes
1.0
Must Mr. James repay profits made from the transaction upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-1)
No
0.0
Is Mr. James disqualified upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-1)
No
0.0
Can a court void the transaction upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-2)
Only in case of fraud
or bad faith
0.0
Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10)
5.0
Before suing, can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital inspect the transaction documents?
(0-1)
Yes
1.0
Can the plaintiff obtain any documents from the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-3)
Documents that the
defendant relied on
1.0
Can the plaintiff request categories of documents from the defendant without identifying specific ones? (0-1)
No
0.0
Can the plaintiff directly question the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-2)
Preapproved
questions only
1.0
Is the level of proof required for civil suits lower than that of criminal cases? (0-1)
Yes
1.0
Can shareholder plaintiffs recover their legal expenses from the company? (0-2)
Yes if successful
1.0
Extent of shareholder governance index (0-20)
Extent of shareholder rights index (0-6)
5.0
Does the sale of 51% of Buyer's assets require shareholder approval?
Yes
1.0
Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital call for a meeting of shareholders?
Yes
1.0
Must Buyer obtain its shareholders’ approval every time it issues new shares?
No
0.0
Do shareholders automatically receive preemption rights every time Buyer issues new shares?
Yes
1.0
Do shareholders elect and dismiss the external auditor?
Yes
1.0
Are changes to the rights of a class of shares only possible if the holders of the affected shares approve?
Yes
1.0
Extent of ownership and control index (0-7)
7.0
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 36
Is it forbidden to appoint the same individual as CEO and chairperson of the board of directors?
Yes
1.0
Must the board of directors include independent and nonexecutive board members?
Yes
1.0
Can shareholders remove members of the board of directors without cause before the end of their term?
Yes
1.0
Must the board of directors include a separate audit committee exclusively comprising board members?
Yes
1.0
Must a potential acquirer make a tender offer to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% of Buyer?
Yes
1.0
Must Buyer pay declared dividends within a maximum period set by law?
Yes
1.0
Is a subsidiary prohibited from acquiring shares issued by its parent company?
Yes
1.0
Extent of corporate transparency index (0-7)
4.0
Must Buyer disclose direct and indirect beneficial ownership stakes representing 5%?
Yes
1.0
Must Buyer disclose information about board members’ primary employment and directorships in other
companies?
No
0.0
Must Buyer disclose the compensation of individual managers?
No
0.0
Must a detailed notice of general meeting be sent 21 days before the meeting?
No
0.0
Can shareholders representing 5% of Buyer’s share capital put items on the general meeting agenda?
Yes
1.0
Must Buyer's annual financial statements be audited by an external auditor?
Yes
1.0
Must Buyer disclose its audit reports to the public?
Yes
1.0
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 37
Paying Taxes
This topic records the taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as the administrative burden of
paying taxes and contributions and complying with postfiling procedures (VAT refund and tax audit). The most recent round of data collection for the project was
completed in May 2019 covering for the Paying Taxes indicator calendar year 2018 (January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2018).
See
the
methodology
for
more
information
.
What the indicators measure
Tax payments for a manufacturing company in 2018 (number
per year adjusted for electronic and joint filing and payment)
Total number of taxes and contributions paid or withheld,
including consumption taxes (value added tax, sales tax or
goods and service tax)
•
Method and frequency of filing and payment
•
Time required to comply with 3 major taxes (hours per year)
Collecting information, computing tax payable
•
Preparing separate tax accounting books, if required
•
Completing tax return, filing with agencies
•
Arranging payment or withholding
•
Total tax and contribution rate (% of commercial profits)
Profit or corporate income tax
•
Social contributions, labor taxes paid by employer
•
Property and property transfer taxes
•
Dividend, capital gains, financial transactions taxes
•
Waste collection, vehicle, road and other taxes
•
Postfiling Index
Time to comply with VAT refund (hours)
•
Time to obtain VAT refund (weeks)
•
Time to comply with a corporate income tax correction (hours)
•
Time to complete a corporate income tax correction (weeks)
•
Case study assumptions
Using a case scenario,
records taxes and mandatory contributions a medium size
company must pay in a year, and measures the administrative burden of paying taxes,
contributions and dealing with postfiling processes. Information is also compiled on frequency of
filing and payments, time taken to comply with tax laws, time taken to comply with the
requirements of postfiling processes and time waiting.
Doing Business
To make data comparable across economies, several assumptions are used:
- TaxpayerCo is a medium-size business that started operations on January 1, 2017. It produces
ceramic flowerpots and sells them at retail.
Taxes and mandatory contributions are measured
at all levels of government.
- In June 2018, TaxpayerCo. makes a large capital purchase: the value of the machine is 65 times
income per capita of the economy. Sales are equally spread per month (1,050 times income per
capita divided by 12) and cost of goods sold are equally expensed per month (875 times income
per capita divided by 12). The machinery seller is registered for VAT and excess input VAT incurred
in June will be fully recovered after four consecutive months if the VAT rate is the same for inputs,
sales and the machine and the tax reporting period is every month. Input VAT will exceed Output
VAT in June 2018.
All taxes and contributions recorded are paid in the
second year of operation (calendar year 2018).
The VAT refund process:
- An error in calculation of income tax liability (for example, use of incorrect tax depreciation rates,
or incorrectly treating an expense as tax deductible) leads to an incorrect income tax return and a
corporate income tax underpayment. TaxpayerCo. discovered the error and voluntarily notified the
tax authority. The value of the underpaid income tax liability is 5% of the corporate income tax
liability due. TaxpayerCo. submits corrected information after the deadline for submitting the annual
tax return, but within the tax assessment period.
The corporate income tax audit process:
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 38
Paying Taxes - Bahrain
Figure – Paying Taxes in Bahrain – Score
Payments
100.0
Time
100.0
Total tax and contribution rate
100.0
Figure – Paying Taxes in Bahrain and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Paying Taxes Score
0 100
99.4: Qatar (Rank: 3)
92.5: Kuwait (Rank: 6)
90.2: Oman (Rank: 11)
78.7: Jordan (Rank: 62)
75.1: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa)
100: Bahrain (Rank: 1)
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of paying taxes is determined by sorting their scores for paying taxes. These scores are the simple average of the scores for
each of the component indicators, with a threshold and a nonlinear transformation applied to one of the component indicators, the total tax and contribution rate. The
threshold is defined as the total tax and contribution rate at the 15th percentile of the overall distribution for all years included in the analysis up to and including Doing
Business 2015, which is 26.1%. All economies with a total tax and contribution rate below this threshold receive the same score as the economy at the threshold.
Indicator
Best Regulatory
Performance
Payments (number per year)
3
16.5
10.3
3 (2 Economies)
Time (hours per year)
23
202.6
158.8
49 (3 Economies)
Total tax and contribution rate (% of profit)
13.8
32.5
39.9
26.1 (33 Economies)
Postfiling index (0-100)
53.3
86.7
None in 2018/19
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 39
Figure – Paying Taxes in Bahrain and comparator economies – Measure of Quality
Bahrain Jordan Kuwait Oman Qatar Middle
East
&
North
Africa
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Index score
null
35.7
null
85.3
null
53.3
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 40
Details – Paying Taxes in Bahrain
Tax or
mandatory
contribution
Payments
(number)
Notes on
Payments
Time (hours)
Statutory tax
rate
Tax base
Total tax and
contribution
rate (% of
profit)
Notes on TTCR
Employer paid -
Social security
contributions
1.0
online
22.5
9%
gross salaries
10.15
Employer paid -
Other taxes and
mandatory
contributions on
labour paid
0.0
jointly
3%
gross salaries
3.38
Healthcare
charge
1.0
Fixed annual
payment (in
proportion to the
months of
employment)
-22.5 BD for
nationals, 72 - for
expatriates
0.26
Fuel tax
1.0
online
embedded in
price
0.00
small amount
Employee paid -
Social security
contributions
0.0
jointly
6%
gross salaries
0.00
withheld
Employee paid -
Unemployment
insurance
contributions
0.0
jointly
1%
gross salaries
0.00
withheld
Totals
3
23
13.8
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 41
Details – Paying Taxes in Bahrain – Tax by Type
Taxes by type
Answer
Profit tax (% of profit)
0.0
Labor tax and contributions (% of profit)
13.5
Other taxes (% of profit)
0.3
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 42
Details – Paying Taxes in Bahrain – Measure of Quality
Names of taxes have been standardized. For instance income tax, profit tax, tax on company's income are all named corporate income tax in this table.
The hours for VAT include all the VAT and sales taxes applicable.
The hours for Social Security include all the hours for labor taxes and mandatory contributions in general.
The postfiling index is the average of the scores on time to comply with VAT refund, time to obtain a VAT refund, time to comply with a corporate income tax correction
and time to complete a corporate income tax correction.
N/A = Not applicable.
Notes:
Answer
Score
Postfiling index (0-100)
VAT refunds
Does VAT exist?
No
Does a VAT refund process exist per the case study?
N/A
Restrictions on VAT refund process
Not Applicable
Percentage of cases exposed to a VAT audit (%)
Not applicable
Is there a mandatory carry forward period?
Not Applicable
Time to comply with VAT refund (hours)
No VAT
No VAT
Time to obtain VAT refund (weeks)
No VAT
No VAT
Corporate income tax audits
Does corporate income tax exist?
No
Percentage of cases exposed to a corporate income tax audit (%)
Not applicable
Time to comply with a corporate income tax correction (hours)
No corporate income
tax
No CIT
Time to complete a corporate income tax correction (weeks)
No corporate income
tax
No CIT
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 43
Trading across Borders
records
the
time
and
cost
associated
with
the
logistical
process
of
exporting
and
importing
goods.
measures
the
time
and
cost
(excluding
tariffs)
associated
with
three
sets
of
procedures—documentary
compliance,
border
compliance
and
domestic
transport—within
the
overall
process
of
exporting
or
importing
a
shipment
of
goods.
The
most
recent
round
of
data
collection
for
the
project
was
completed
in
May
2019.
.
Doing Business Doing Business
See
the
methodology
for
more
information
What the indicators measure
Documentary compliance
Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents during
transport, clearance, inspections and port or border handling in
origin economy
•
Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents required by
destination economy and any transit economies
•
Covers all documents required by law and in practice, including
electronic submissions of information
•
Border compliance
Customs clearance and inspections
•
Inspections by other agencies (if applied to more than 20% of
shipments)
•
Handling and inspections that take place at the economy’s port
or border
•
Domestic transport
Loading or unloading of the shipment at the warehouse or
port/border
•
Transport between warehouse and port/border
•
Traffic delays and road police checks while shipment is en
route
•
Case study assumptions
To make the data comparable across economies, a few assumptions are made about the traded
goods and the transactions:
Time is measured in hours, and 1 day is 24 hours (for example, 22 days are recorded as
22×24=528 hours). If customs clearance takes 7.5 hours, the data are recorded as is. Alternatively,
suppose documents are submitted to a customs agency at 8:00a.m., are processed overnight and
can be picked up at 8:00a.m. the next day. The time for customs clearance would be recorded as
24 hours because the actual procedure took 24 hours.
Time:
Insurance cost and informal payments for which no receipt is issued are excluded from the
costs recorded. Costs are reported in U.S. dollars. Contributors are asked to convert local currency
into U.S. dollars based on the exchange rate prevailing on the day they answer the questionnaire.
Contributors are private sector experts in international trade logistics and are informed about
exchange rates.
Cost:
- For all 190 economies covered by
, it is assumed a shipment is in a warehouse in
the largest business city of the exporting economy and travels to a warehouse in the largest
business city of the importing economy.
- It is assumed each economy imports 15 metric tons of containerized auto parts (HS 8708) from
its natural import partner—the economy from which it imports the largest value (price times
quantity) of auto parts. It is assumed each economy exports the product of its comparative
advantage (defined by the largest export value) to its natural export partner—the economy that is
the largest purchaser of this product. Shipment value is assumed to be $50,000.
- The mode of transport is the one most widely used for the chosen export or import product and
the trading partner, as is the seaport or land border crossing.
- All electronic information submissions requested by any government agency in connection with
the shipment are considered to be documents obtained, prepared and submitted during the export
or import process.
- A port or border is a place (seaport or land border crossing) where merchandise can enter or
leave an economy.
- Relevant government agencies include customs, port authorities, road police, border guards,
standardization agencies, ministries or departments of agriculture or industry, national security
agencies and any other government authorities.
Assumptions of the case study:
Doing Business
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 44
Trading across Borders - Bahrain
Figure – Trading across Borders in Bahrain – Score
Time
to
export:
Border
compliance
63.5
Cost
to
export:
Border
compliance
95.5
Time
to
export:
Documentary
compliance
86.4
Cost
to
export:
Documentary
compliance
75.0
Time
to
import:
Border
compliance
85.3
Cost
to
import:
Border
compliance
66.9
Time
to
import:
Documentary
compliance
75.3
Cost
to
import:
Documentary
compliance
81.4
Figure – Trading across Borders in Bahrain and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Trading Across Borders Score
0 100
84.1: Oman (Rank: 64)
79.0: Jordan (Rank: 75)
78.7: Bahrain (Rank: 77)
71.5: Qatar (Rank: 101)
61.8: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa)
52.6: Kuwait (Rank: 162)
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of trading across borders is determined by sorting their scores for trading across borders. These scores are the simple
average of the scores for the time and cost for documentary compliance and border compliance to export and import.
Indicator
Best Regulatory
Performance
Time to export: Border compliance (hours)
59
52.5
12.7
1 (19 Economies)
Cost to export: Border compliance (USD)
47
441.8
136.8
0 (19 Economies)
Time to export: Documentary compliance (hours)
24
66.4
2.3
1 (26 Economies)
Cost to export: Documentary compliance (USD)
100
240.7
33.4
0 (20 Economies)
Time to import: Border compliance (hours)
42
94.2
8.5
1 (25 Economies)
Cost to import: Border compliance (USD)
397
512.5
98.1
0 (28 Economies)
Time to import: Documentary compliance (hours)
60
72.5
3.4
1 (30 Economies)
Cost to import: Documentary compliance (USD)
130
262.6
23.5
0 (30 Economies)
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 45
Figure – Trading across Borders in Bahrain – Time and Cost
Export
-
Border
Compliance
Export
-
Documentary
Compliance
Import
-
Border
Compliance
Import
-
Documentary
Compliance
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Time (hours)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Cost (USD)
59
47
24
100
42
397
60
130
Time (hours) Cost (USD)
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 46
Details – Trading across Borders in Bahrain
Characteristics
Export
Import
Product
HS 76 : Aluminium and articles thereof
HS 8708: Parts and accessories of motor vehicles
Trade partner
Saudi Arabia
Japan
Border
King Fahad Causeway border crossing
Khalifa Bin Salman port
Distance (km)
19
18
Domestic transport time (hours)
1
1
Domestic transport cost (USD)
250
145
Details – Trading across Borders in Bahrain – Components of Border Compliance
Time to Complete (hours)
Associated Costs (USD)
Export: Clearance and inspections required by
customs authorities
24.0
47.2
Export: Clearance and inspections required by
agencies other than customs
0.0
0.0
Export: Port or border handling
36.0
0.0
Import: Clearance and inspections required by
customs authorities
36.0
170.0
Import: Clearance and inspections required by
agencies other than customs
0.0
0.0
Import: Port or border handling
42.0
227.0
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 47
Details – Trading across Borders in Bahrain – Trade Documents
Export
Import
Commercial Invoice
Commercial invoice
Cargo Manifest
Packing list
Certificate of origin
Certificate of origin
Customs declaration
Bill of lading
Delivery Order
Import declaration
SOLAS certificate
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 48
Enforcing Contracts
.
The enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local first-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes
index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and efficiency in the court system. The most recent round of data
collection was completed in May 2019.
See the methodology for more information
What the indicators measure
Time required to enforce a contract through the courts
(calendar days)
Time to file and serve the case
•
Time for trial and to obtain the judgment
•
Time to enforce the judgment
•
Cost required to enforce a contract through the courts (% of
claim value)
Average attorney fees
•
Court costs
•
Enforcement costs
•
Quality of judicial processes index (0-18)
Court structure and proceedings (-1-5)
•
Case management (0-6)
•
Court automation (0-4)
•
Alternative dispute resolution (0-3)
•
Case study assumptions
The dispute in the case study involves the breach of a sales contract between two domestic
businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in
dispute. This distinguishes the case from simple debt enforcement.
To make the data on the time and comparable across economies, several assumptions about the
case are used:
- The dispute concerns a lawful transaction between two businesses (Seller and Buyer), both
located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the
second largest business city.
- The Buyer orders custom-made furniture, then fails to pay alleging that the goods are not of
adequate quality.
- The value of the dispute is 200% of the income per capita or the equivalent in local currency of
USD 5,000, whichever is greater.
- The Seller sues the Buyer before the court with jurisdiction over commercial cases worth 200% of
income per capita or $5,000 whichever is greater.
- The Seller requests the pretrial attachment of the defendant’s movable assets to secure the
claim.
- The claim is disputed on the merits because of Buyer’s allegation that the quality of the goods
was not adequate.
- The judge decides in favor of the seller; there is no appeal.
- The Seller enforces the judgment through a public sale of the Buyer’s movable assets.
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 49
Enforcing Contracts - Bahrain
Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Bahrain – Score
Time
57.8
Cost
83.6
Quality of judicial processes index
50.0
Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Bahrain and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Enforcing Contracts Score
0 100
63.8: Bahrain (Rank: 59)
61.9: Oman (Rank: 69)
61.4: Kuwait (Rank: 74)
56.0: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa)
55.6: Jordan (Rank: 110)
54.6: Qatar (Rank: 115)
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of enforcing contracts is determined by sorting their scores for enforcing contracts. These scores are the simple average of
the scores for each of the component indicators.
Standardized Case
Claim value
BHD 16,066
Court name
Bahrain High Court, 5th Circuit
City Covered
Manama
Indicator
Best Regulatory
Performance
Time (days)
635
622.0
589.6
120 (Singapore)
Cost (% of claim value)
14.7
24.7
21.5
0.1 (Bhutan)
Quality of judicial processes index (0-18)
9.0
6.6
11.7
None in 2018/19
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 50
Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Bahrain – Time and Cost
Bahrain Jordan Kuwait Middle
East
&
North
Africa
OECD
high
income
Oman Qatar
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Time (days)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Cost (% of claim value)
635
14.7
642
31.2
566
18.6
622.0
24.7
589.6
21.5
598
15.1
570
21.6
Time (days) Cost (% of claim value)
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 51
Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Bahrain and comparator economies – Measure of Quality
Bahrain
Jordan
Kuwait
Oman
Qatar
OECD high income
Middle East & North Africa
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Sub-Indicator Score
2 3 1 3
3 2 1 2
2.5 1 0 4
2.5 1 0 4
2 00 2.5
2.5 3.2 2.4 3.6
2.2 1.1 0.5 2.9
Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) Case management (0-6) Court automation (0-4) Court structure and proceedings (-1-5)
Details – Enforcing Contracts in Bahrain
Indicator
Time (days)
635
Filing and service
30
Trial and judgment
545
Enforcement of judgment
60
Cost (% of claim value)
14.7
Attorney fees
10
Court fees
3.4
Enforcement fees
1.3
Quality of judicial processes index (0-18)
9.0
Court structure and proceedings (-1-5)
3.0
Case management (0-6)
3.0
Court automation (0-4)
1.0
Alternative dispute resolution (0-3)
2.0
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 52
Details – Enforcing Contracts in Bahrain – Measure of Quality
Answer
Score
Quality of judicial processes index (0-18)
9.0
Court structure and proceedings (-1-5)
3.0
1. Is there a court or division of a court dedicated solely to hearing commercial cases?
Yes
1.5
2. Small claims court
0.0
2.a. Is there a small claims court or a fast-track procedure for small claims?
No
2.b. If yes, is self-representation allowed?
n.a.
3. Is pretrial attachment available?
Yes
1.0
4. Are new cases assigned randomly to judges?
Yes, but manual
0.5
5. Does a woman's testimony carry the same evidentiary weight in court as a man's?
Yes
0.0
Case management (0-6)
3.0
1. Time standards
1.0
1.a. Are there laws setting overall time standards for key court events in a civil case?
Yes
1.b. If yes, are the time standards set for at least three court events?
Yes
1.c. Are these time standards respected in more than 50% of cases?
Yes
2. Adjournments
0.0
2.a. Does the law regulate the maximum number of adjournments that can be granted?
No
2.b. Are adjournments limited to unforeseen and exceptional circumstances?
No
2.c. If rules on adjournments exist, are they respected in more than 50% of cases?
n.a.
3. Can two of the following four reports be generated about the competent court: (i) time to disposition report; (ii)
clearance rate report; (iii) age of pending cases report; and (iv) single case progress report?
No
0.0
4. Is a pretrial conference among the case management techniques used before the competent court?
No
0.0
5. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court for use by judges?
Yes
1.0
6. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court for use by lawyers?
Yes
1.0
Court automation (0-4)
1.0
1. Can the initial complaint be filed electronically through a dedicated platform within the competent court?
No
0.0
2. Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims filed before the competent court?
Yes
1.0
3. Can court fees be paid electronically within the competent court?
No
0.0
4. Publication of judgments
0.0
4.a Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at all levels made available to the general public
through publication in official gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website?
No
4.b. Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at the appellate and supreme court level made
available to the general public through publication in official gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet
or court website?
No
Alternative dispute resolution (0-3)
2.0
1. Arbitration
1.5
1.a. Is domestic commercial arbitration governed by a consolidated law or consolidated chapter or
section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all its aspects?
Yes
1.b. Are there any commercial disputes—aside from those that deal with public order or public policy—
that cannot be submitted to arbitration?
No
1.c. Are valid arbitration clauses or agreements usually enforced by the courts?
Yes
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 53
2. Mediation/Conciliation
0.5
2.a. Is voluntary mediation or conciliation available?
Yes
2.b. Are mediation, conciliation or both governed by a consolidated law or consolidated chapter or
section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all their aspects (for
example, definition, aim and scope of application, desig
No
2.c. Are there financial incentives for parties to attempt mediation or conciliation (i.e., if mediation or
conciliation is successful, a refund of court filing fees, income tax credits or the like)?
No
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 54
Resolving Insolvency
studies the time, cost and outcome of insolvency proceedings involving domestic legal entities. These variables are used to calculate the recovery rate,
which is recorded as cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors through reorganization, liquidation or debt enforcement (foreclosure or receivership) proceedings.
To determine the present value of the amount recovered by creditors,
uses the lending rates from the International Monetary Fund, supplemented with
data from central banks and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2019.
.
Doing Business
Doing Business
See the methodology for more
information
What the indicators measure
Time required to recover debt (years)
Measured in calendar years
•
Appeals and requests for extension are included
•
Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s estate)
Measured as percentage of estate value
•
Court fees
•
Fees of insolvency administrators
•
Lawyers’ fees
•
Assessors’ and auctioneers’ fees
•
Other related fees
•
Outcome
Whether business continues operating as a going concern or
business assets are sold piecemeal
•
Recovery rate for creditors
Measures the cents on the dollar recovered by secured
creditors
•
Outcome for the business (survival or not) determines the
maximum value that can be recovered
•
Official costs of the insolvency proceedings are deducted
•
Depreciation of furniture is taken into account
•
Present value of debt recovered
•
Strength of insolvency framework index (0- 16)
Sum of the scores of four component indices:
•
Commencement of proceedings index (0-3)
•
Management of debtor’s assets index (0-6)
•
Reorganization proceedings index (0-3)
•
Creditor participation index (0-4)
•
Case study assumptions
To make the data on the time, cost and outcome comparable across economies, several
assumptions about the business and the case are used:
- A hotel located in the largest city (or cities) has 201 employees and 50 suppliers. The hotel
experiences financial difficulties.
- The value of the hotel is 100% of the income per capita or the equivalent in local currency of USD
200,000, whichever is greater.
- The hotel has a loan from a domestic bank, secured by a mortgage over the hotel’s real estate.
The hotel cannot pay back the loan, but makes enough money to operate otherwise.
In addition,
evaluates the quality of legal framework applicable to judicial
liquidation and reorganization proceedings and the extent to which best insolvency practices have
been implemented in each economy covered.
Doing Business
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 55
Resolving Insolvency - Bahrain
Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Bahrain – Score
Recovery rate
44.5
Strength of insolvency framework index
71.9
Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Bahrain and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Resolving Insolvency Score
0 100
58.2: Bahrain (Rank: 60)
44.0: Oman (Rank: 97)
39.7: Jordan (Rank: 112)
39.2: Kuwait (Rank: 115)
38.0: Qatar (Rank: 123)
34.5: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa)
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of resolving insolvency is determined by sorting their scores for resolving insolvency. These scores are the simple average
of the scores for the recovery rate and the strength of insolvency framework index.
Indicator
Best Regulatory
Performance
Recovery rate (cents on the dollar)
41.3
27.3
70.2
92.9 (Norway)
Time (years)
2.5
2.7
1.7
0.4 (Ireland)
Cost (% of estate)
9.5
14.0
9.3
1.0 (Norway)
Outcome (0 as piecemeal sale and 1 as going concern)
0
..
..
..
Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16)
11.5
6.3
11.9
None in 2018/19
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 56
Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Bahrain – Time and Cost
Bahrain Jordan Kuwait Middle
East
&
North
Africa
OECD
high
income
Oman Qatar
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
Time (years)
0
5
10
15
20
25
Cost (% of estate)
2.5
9.5
3.0
20.0
4.2
10.0
2.7
14.0
1.7
9.3
3.0
7.0
2.8
22.0
Time (years) Cost (% of estate)
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 57
Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Bahrain and comparator economies – Measure of Quality
Note: Even if the economy’s legal framework includes provisions related to insolvency proceedings (liquidation or reorganization), the economy receives 0 points for the
strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice.”
Bahrain
Jordan
Kuwait
Oman
Qatar
OECD high income
Middle East & North Africa
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Sub-Indicator Score
6 2.5 1 2
4 2.5 1 0.5
4 2 1 0
4 2 1 0
4 2 1 0
5.3 2.8 2.1 1.9
3.7 2.3 1.3 0.6
Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) Creditor participation index (0-4) Reorganization proceedings index (0-3)
Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Bahrain and comparator economies – Recovery Rate
Bahrain Jordan Kuwait Oman Qatar Middle East & North Africa
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Recovery rate(cents on the dollar)
41.3
27.3
32.2
41.1
30.0
27.3
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 58
Details – Resolving Insolvency in Bahrain
Indicator
Score
Proceeding
foreclosure
Foreclosure is the fastest and most efficient way for BizBank to recover its money.
Outcome
piecemeal sale
At the end of the foreclosure proceedings, the assets of the hotel will be sold piecemeal.
Time (in years)
2.5
Foreclosure procedure will take up to 3 years.
Cost (% of estate)
9.5
The costs associated with the case would amount to approximately 10% of the value of the debtor's estate. Costs
incurred during the insolvency process include court or government agency fees (2%), attorney fees (5%), costs of
notification and publication (BHD 30), insolvency representative or receiver fees (2%), fees of accountants, assessors,
inspectors and other professionals (1%).
Recovery rate
(cents on the dollar)
41.3
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 59
Details – Resolving Insolvency in Bahrain – Measure of Quality
Even if the economy’s legal framework includes provisions related to insolvency proceedings (liquidation or reorganization), the economy receives 0 points for the
strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice.”
Note:
Answer
Score
Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16)
11.5
Commencement of proceedings index (0-3)
2.5
What procedures are available to a DEBTOR when commencing insolvency proceedings?
(a) Debtor may file for
both liquidation and
reorganization
1.0
Does the insolvency framework allow a CREDITOR to file for insolvency of the debtor?
(b) Yes, but a creditor
may file for liquidation
only
0.5
What basis for commencement of the insolvency proceedings is allowed under the insolvency framework? (a)
Debtor is generally unable to pay its debts as they mature (b) The value of debtor's liabilities exceeds the value
of its assets
(c) Both (a) and (b)
options are available,
but only one of them
needs to be complied
with
1.0
Management of debtor's assets index (0-6)
6.0
Does the insolvency framework allow the continuation of contracts supplying essential goods and services to the
debtor?
Yes
1.0
Does the insolvency framework allow the rejection by the debtor of overly burdensome contracts?
Yes
1.0
Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of preferential transactions?
Yes
1.0
Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of undervalued transactions?
Yes
1.0
Does the insolvency framework provide for the possibility of the debtor obtaining credit after commencement of
insolvency proceedings?
Yes
1.0
Does the insolvency framework assign priority to post-commencement credit?
(b) Yes over ordinary
unsecured creditors
but not over secured
creditors
1.0
Reorganization proceedings index (0-3)
2.0
Which creditors vote on the proposed reorganization plan?
(b) Only creditors
whose rights are
affected by the
proposed plan
1.0
Does the insolvency framework require that dissenting creditors in reorganization receive at least as much as
what they would obtain in a liquidation?
Yes
1.0
Are the creditors divided into classes for the purposes of voting on the reorganization plan, does each class vote
separately and are creditors in the same class treated equally?
No
0.0
Creditor participation index (0-4)
1.0
Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for selection or appointment of the insolvency
representative?
No
0.0
Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for sale of substantial assets of the debtor?
No
0.0
Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to request information from the insolvency
representative?
No
0.0
Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to object to decisions accepting or rejecting
creditors' claims?
Yes
1.0
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 60
Employing Workers
presents detailed data for the employing workers indicators on the
website (
). The study does not present
rankings of economies on these indicators or include the topic in the aggregate ease of doing business score or ranking on the ease of doing business.
Doing Business Doing Business
http://www.doingbusiness.org
The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2019.
.
See the methodology for more information
What the indicators measure
(i) whether fixed-term contracts are prohibited for permanent
tasks; (ii) maximum cumulative duration of fixed-term contracts;
(iii) length of the maximum probationary period; (iv) minimum
wage;(v) ratio of minimum wage to the average value added per
worker.
Hiring
(i) maximum number of working days allowed per week; (ii)
premiums for work: at night, on a weekly rest day and overtime;
(iii) whether there are restrictions on work at night, work on a
weekly rest day and for overtime work; (iv) length of paid annual
leave.
Working hours
(i) whether redundancy can be basis for terminating workers; (ii)
whether employer needs to notify and/or get approval from third
party to terminate 1 redundant worker and a group of 9 redundant
workers; (iii) whether the law requires employer to reassign or
retrain a worker before making worker redundant; (iv) whether
priority rules apply for redundancies and reemployment.
Redundancy rules
(i) notice period for redundancy dismissal; (ii) severance
payments, and (iii) penalties due when terminating a redundant
worker. Data on the availability of unemployment protection for a
worker with one year of employment is also collected.
Redundancy cost
Case study assumptions
To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the worker and the
business are used.
- Is a cashier in a supermarket or grocery store, age 19, with one year of work experience.
- Is a full-time employee.
- Is not a member of the labor union, unless membership is mandatory.
The worker:
- Is a limited liability company (or the equivalent in the economy).
- Operates a supermarket or grocery store in the economy’s largest business city. For 11
economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city.
- Has 60 employees.
- Is subject to collective bargaining agreements if such agreements cover more than 50% of the
food retail sector and they apply even to firms that are not party to them.
- Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more benefits than those
mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) collective bargaining agreements.
The business:
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 61
Employing Workers - Bahrain
Details – Employing Workers in Bahrain
Answer
Hiring
Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks?
No
Maximum length of a single fixed-term contract (months)
60.0
Maximum length of fixed-term contracts, including renewals (months)
60.0
Minimum wage applicable to the worker assumed in the case study (US$/month)
0.0
Ratio of minimum wage to value added per worker
0.0
Maximum length of probationary period (months)
3.0
Working hours
Standard workday
8.0
Maximum number of working days per week
6.0
Premium for night work (% of hourly pay)
0.0
Premium for work on weekly rest day (% of hourly pay)
0.0
Premium for overtime work (% of hourly pay)
37.5
Restrictions on night work?
No
Restrictions on weekly holiday?
No
Restrictions on overtime work?
No
Paid annual leave for a worker with 1 year of tenure (working days)
30.0
Paid annual leave for a worker with 5 years of tenure (working days)
30.0
Paid annual leave for a worker with 10 years of tenure (working days)
30.0
Paid annual leave (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in working days)
30.0
Redundancy rules
Dismissal due to redundancy allowed by law?
Yes
Third-party notification if one worker is dismissed?
Yes
Third-party approval if one worker is dismissed?
No
Third-party notification if nine workers are dismissed?
Yes
Third-party approval if nine workers are dismissed?
No
Retraining or reassignment obligation before redundancy?
No
Priority rules for redundancies?
Yes
Priority rules for reemployment?
No
Redundancy cost
Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure (weeks of salary)
4.3
Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure (weeks of salary)
4.3
Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure (weeks of salary)
4.3
Notice period for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in weeks of salary)
4.3
Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure (weeks of salary)
2.2
Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure (weeks of salary)
8.6
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 62
Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure (weeks of salary)
17.2
Severance pay for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in weeks of salary)
9.3
Unemployment protection after one year of employment?
Yes
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 63
Business Reforms in
Bahrain
From May 2, 2018 to May 1, 2019, 115 economies implemented 294 business regulatory reforms across the 10 areas measured by Doing Business. Reforms inspired by
have been implemented by economies in all regions. The following are reforms implemented since
2008.
Doing Business Doing Business
DB2020
Dealing with Construction Permits:
Bahrain made obtaining construction permits easier by further streamlining the application process through the new Benayat
online platform, and by delegating the application review process to licensed engineering firms.
Getting Electricity:
Bahrain made the process of getting electricity easier by investing in digitization and transparency of information and by improving its inspection
and installation process.
Registering Property:
Bahrain made property registration easier by streamlining administrative procedures and improving the quality of the land administration
system.
Getting Credit:
Bahrain strengthened access to credit by giving secured creditors absolute priority during insolvency proceedings. During reorganization proceedings,
creditors are also now subject to an automatic stay that is limited in time with clear grounds for relief.
Protecting Minority Investors:
Bahrain strengthened minority investor protections by clarifying ownership and control structures.
Paying Taxes:
Bahrain made paying taxes easier by introducing electronic payment of social insurance contributions.
Trading across Borders:
Bahrain made exporting faster by deploying new scanners.
Enforcing Contracts:
Bahrain made enforcing contracts easier by creating a specialized commercial court, establishing time standards for key court events and
allowing electronic service of the summons.
Resolving Insolvency:
Bahrain made resolving insolvency easier by introducing a reorganization procedure, allowing debtors to initiate the reorganization procedure,
adding provisions on post-commencement financing, and improving voting arrangements.
DB2019
Protecting Minority Investors:
Bahrain strengthened minority investor protections by increasing shareholders' right and role in major decisions, clarifying ownership
and control structures and requiring greater corporate transparency.
Trading across Borders:
Bahrain reduced the time needed to import by deploying portal scanners and upgrading the single window system.
DB2018
Paying Taxes:
Bahrain made paying taxes more complicated by introducing a new health care contribution borne by the employer.
Enforcing Contracts:
Bahrain made enforcing contracts easier by introducing an electronic case management system for the use of judges and lawyers.
DB2017
Starting a Business:
Bahrain made starting a business easier by reducing the minimum capital requirement.
Getting Credit:
Bahrain improved access to credit information by guaranteeing by law borrowers’ right to inspect their own data.
Trading across Borders:
Bahrain made exporting easier by improving infrastructure and streamlining procedures at the King Fahad Causeway.
DB2015
Registering Property:
Bahrain made registering property easier by reducing the registration fee.
Getting Credit:
Bahrain improved access to credit information by approving the credit bureau’s collection of data on firms.
DB2014
Starting a Business:
Bahrain made starting a business more expensive by increasing the cost of the business registration certificate.
Getting Credit:
Bahrain improved access to credit information by starting to collect payment information from retailers.
Employing Workers:
Bahrain reduced the maximum cumulative duration of fixed-term contracts, made third-party notification mandatory for redundancy dismissals and
increased paid annual leave.
DB2011
Registering Property:
Bahrain made registering property more burdensome by increasing the fees at the Survey and Land Registration Bureau.
Trading across Borders:
Bahrain made it easier to trade by building a modern new port, improving the electronic data interchange system and introducing risk-based
=
reform making it easier to do business.
= Change making it more difficult to do business.
Doing Business
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 64
DB2010
Dealing with Construction Permits:
Bahrain made dealing with construction permits easier by further consolidating preliminary approvals for building permits in the
one-stop shop and reducing the time needed to obtain a building permit.
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 65
Bahrain
Doing Business
2020
Page 66