Trade between Saudi Arabia, Bahrain Grows 51% in 8 Years

Vehicles travel into Bahrain from Saudi Arabia on the King Fahd Causeway. (AP file photo)
Vehicles travel into Bahrain from Saudi Arabia on the King Fahd Causeway. (AP file photo)
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Trade between Saudi Arabia, Bahrain Grows 51% in 8 Years

Vehicles travel into Bahrain from Saudi Arabia on the King Fahd Causeway. (AP file photo)
Vehicles travel into Bahrain from Saudi Arabia on the King Fahd Causeway. (AP file photo)

Trade between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain grew from $1.4 billion in 2010 to $2.2 billion at the end of 2017, a 51 percent increase.

Saudi exports to Bahrain account for 40 percent of the volume of trade exchange between the two countries, while Bahraini exports account for about 60 percent.

The industrial sector is one of the pillars of Bahrain's economy, accounting for about 15 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Consequently, non-oil exports are the main part of the trade between the two countries.

Exports such as cement, iron and construction materials, as well as foodstuffs represent the majority of Saudi exports to the Bahraini market.

Gulf economies collectively constitute a trade market of about $1.5 trillion, while non-oil exports account for $4.8 billion of Bahrain's economy.

Since 2010, Saudi Arabia's exports to Bahrain have grown from $482 million to $894 million, an average of about 86 percent by the end of 2017. During the same period, Bahrain's exports to Saudi Arabia grew 34 percent from $989 million to $1.3 billion.

Metal, agricultural and animal products, foodstuffs, beverages, chemicals and plastics were the majority of products in trade exchange between the two countries.

Bahrain's Economic Development Board attributed the rapid growth of trade between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to facilitated procedures and logistics between the two countries, especially clearance procedures on the King Fahd Causeway.

Along with the Causeway, the Board expected trade between the two countries to expand after the construction of the King Hamad Bridge. The railway between the two countries will also create great opportunities which will further increase trade in the future.

King Fahd Causeway, Bahrain's only land route, has been transporting a third of Bahrain's non-oil exports to the Saudi market in recent years, reinforcing the importance of establishing the King Hamad Bridge as a second pillar for Bahrain's economy.



Russia is Using Bitcoin, Digital Currencies in Foreign Trade

FILE PHOTO: A woman passes by the Bitcoin Monument after bitcoin soared above $100,000, in Ilopango, El Salvador, December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman passes by the Bitcoin Monument after bitcoin soared above $100,000, in Ilopango, El Salvador, December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo
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Russia is Using Bitcoin, Digital Currencies in Foreign Trade

FILE PHOTO: A woman passes by the Bitcoin Monument after bitcoin soared above $100,000, in Ilopango, El Salvador, December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman passes by the Bitcoin Monument after bitcoin soared above $100,000, in Ilopango, El Salvador, December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo

Russian companies have begun using bitcoin and other digital currencies in international payments following legislative changes that allowed such use in order to counter Western sanctions, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.

Sanctions have complicated Russia's trade with its major partners such as China or Türkiye, as local banks are extremely cautious with Russia-related transactions to avoid scrutiny from Western regulators, according to Reuters.

This year, Russia permitted the use of cryptocurrencies in foreign trade and has taken steps to make it legal to mine cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. Russia is one of the global leaders in bitcoin mining.

“As part of the experimental regime, it is possible to use bitcoins, which we had mined here in Russia (in foreign trade transactions),” Siluanov told Russia 24 television channel.

“Such transactions are already occurring. We believe they should be expanded and developed further. I am confident this will happen next year,” he said, adding that international payments in digital currencies represent the future.

Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin said that the current US administration was undermining the role of the US dollar as the reserve currency by using it for political purposes, forcing many countries to turn to alternative assets.

He singled out bitcoin as an example of such assets, saying that no-one in the world could regulate bitcoin. Putin's remarks indicated that the Russian leader backs the extensive use of cryptocurrencies.