Bahrain Awards Golden Licences to Four Projects Worth $3.89 Billion

Summary

• Bahrain granted Golden Licences to four projects valued at a combined $3.89 billion.
• The awards came at the fourth Gateway Gulf forum, opened by Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad.
• DHL and AirAsia's parent are both anchoring aviation operations at Bahrain International Airport.

The latest

Four projects worth a combined $3.89 billion have been granted Bahrain's Golden Licence, the state's top-tier incentive for large investments. The awards were announced at the fourth edition of the Gateway Gulf forum, held 1–2 November 2026 at the Four Seasons Bahrain Bay and opened by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa before more than 200 officials, chief executives and investors.

Details

• The DHL project: The first licence covers a regional aircraft maintenance centre for DHL at Bahrain International Airport, according to the Economic Development Board. It places a global logistics operator's technical base inside the kingdom's main aviation hub rather than in a competing Gulf airport, though no individual project value was published.
• The AirAsia play: Capital A, the parent of AirAsia, received a licence for a package spanning flight operations, Teleport cargo services and aircraft maintenance delivered through Asia Digital Engineering. The combination brings a passenger carrier, a freight arm and an engineering unit into Bahrain under one investment.
• The hospitality asset: A five-star hotel and branded residences under the Meliá name will be developed in Amwaj in partnership with Infracorp, the Economic Development Board said. It is the only one of the four licences aimed at tourism and real estate rather than aviation or technology.
• The digital project: The fourth licence went to Bahrain Digital City, described as a mixed-use complex for information technology, innovation and education. The announcement did not set out a construction timeline or the identity of the anchor tenants.
• What was not disclosed: Authorities published the aggregate $3.89 billion figure but did not break out the value of each of the four projects individually, and did not state how many jobs the investments are expected to create.
• The forum's scale: Finance and National Economy Minister Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said Gateway Gulf would carry more than 110 announcements worth over $20 billion, spanning partnerships, investments, projects and employment. The $3.89 billion in licensed projects is therefore a fraction of the forum's headline total.
• The economic backdrop: The minister said the non-oil sector now accounts for more than 86% of Bahrain's gross domestic product, a figure the government uses to argue that diversification away from hydrocarbons is already structural rather than aspirational.
• The venue: The forum ran across two days, 1–2 November 2026, and drew more than 200 officials, executives and investors, with the Crown Prince personally opening the fourth edition of the event.

Background

The Golden Licence is Bahrain's incentive framework for strategic investments, offering priority government services to projects that clear a value or employment threshold. Gateway Gulf is the kingdom's flagship investment forum, used to bundle announcements into a single two-day window.

Between the lines

Two of the four licences place aviation operators at Bahrain International Airport: DHL's maintenance centre and Capital A's combined flight, cargo and engineering package. Taken with the minister's claim that non-oil activity exceeds 86% of output, the awards point to aviation logistics as the specific sector Bahrain is betting on, in a Gulf market where Dubai and Doha already dominate.

What's next

Watch for the remaining Gateway Gulf announcements toward the stated $20 billion total, and for construction timelines, individual project values and job figures on the four licensed projects.

Source: Akhbar Al Khaleej, GDN, Bahrain Economic Development Board