Gulf Construction Online - $3.5bn city marks industrial milestone

Industrial Construction

Salman Industrial City ... attracting foreign investment.

$3.5bn city marks industrial milestone

The newly-inaugurated Salman Industrial City promises to offer huge advantages for investors, and provides easy access to the outside world by virtue of its proximity to Bahrain International Airport, Khalifa bin Salman Port and direct motorway access to Saudi Arabia.

01 January 2010

BAHRAIN has launched a new industrial zone known as Salman Industrial City, which is expected to be a cutting-edge development aimed at attracting foreign investment in the manufacturing and logistics sectors.

The city, home to the Hidd Industrial Area, Bahrain Investment Wharf (BIW) and Bahrain International Investment Park (BIIP), will play a pivotal role as a catalyst for commerce and industry and as a strong base for the development of manufacturing and service infrastructure.
Investments in the city, currently estimated at $3.5 billion, are expected to double to $7.6 billion, in line with the kingdom’s development strategy and its Economic Vision 2030.
Covering an area of 12 million sq m, the city lies within close proximity to Bahrain International Airport and the Khalifa bin Salman Port, besides benefiting from direct motorway access to Saudi Arabia, via the 25-km King Fahad Causeway and, by 2014, is expected enjoy the same connectivity to Qatar via the Qatar-Bahrain Friendship Bridge.

Hidd Industrial Area
Al Hidd Industrial Area houses many important factories of the kingdom in addition to industrial incubators. Home to major industrial projects including the Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard (Asry), the Gulf Industrial Investment Company’s pelletising plant, Unirol’s state-of-the-art steel rolling mill, Nass Group and a range of businesses run by the Kingdom Group, the Hidd Industrial Area comprises 30 industrial projects.
Managed by the Industrial Areas Directorate of the Industry and Commerce Ministry, it covers an area of 7.9 million sq m and caters to a cross-section of manufacturing sectors including construction products, furniture, engineering products, packaging and textiles.
It is also helping to develop the next generation of small- and medium-scale enterprises and entrepreneurs. The Bahrain Business Incubation Centre, a subsidiary of Bahrain Development Bank, was expected to have 125 incubator units by the end of last year, providing manufacturing space for fledgling companies.
The Jawad Agility warehouse in the Hidd Industrial Area provides integrated supply chain solutions including dry, chilled and freezer storage deliver trucks for local distribution as well as flat beds and reefer trailers for distribution throughout the GCC.

BIW
BIW is the largest mixed-use industrial development of its kind and size in Bahrain and developer Tameer’s most prestigious project to date. As part of a deal with the Industry and Commerce Ministry, Tameer has invested $250 million in the development of the entire infrastructure and services of the BIW, including the streets, roads, electricity, water and sewer networks and communications. Presently, 75 per cent of construction work on infrastructure has been completed.
The project covering an area of 1.7 million sq m is a combination of industrial, logistics, business, commercial and accommodation development that is expected to attract investments between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.
The BIW will develop business communities with a number of specialist parks. An industrial/logistics and warehousing park will help expand a light and medium manufacturing base, including warehousing, storage, and packaging and re-distribution facilities.
A business and commercial park built on an area of 250,000 sq m will provide low-rise office blocks, a training centre, conference hall and commercial facilities while an accommodation park will offer living quarters for staff. It also includes a services zone that is set to promote Bahrain as an industrial hub, attracting regional and international investors.
Tameer is the real estate development arm of Inovest, which in cooperation with a technical partner in the US, intends to invest $32 million in setting up a factory to manufacture water filters on one of the plots at the BIW, contributing to the development of water technology.

BIIP
BIIP is a 2.5-million-sq-m business park that has been developed by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. It is designed to attract export-oriented companies in manufacturing and internationally traded services, with high-value projects. Two-thirds of the park has been allocated to 48 Bahraini companies and 25 international companies, together investing $750 million.
Investors in BIIP have the option of either constructing their own facilities on serviced plots or leasing pre-built industrial or office space.
Projects from a wide range of sectors have been approved for the park including food products, medical technology, household products, electronic devices, packaging materials, electrical switchgear and architectural model manufacturing. Companies will also undertake activities in export-led services including insurance claims administration, advanced information systems, software application systems and high technology printing services.
Some of the completed projects include: Bahrain Prism Glass Factory, Kraft Foods Bahrain, Oriental Press, Maskati Bros, Al Halwachi Food Factory, Global Logistical Services, Uneeco, National Institute for Industrial Training, Abahsain Fibreglass ME, Creative Design, InControlTech and Matrikon.
The ongoing projects are Paschal Concrete Forms, Gulf Shade, Bader Models, Al Jalahma, Baytik Industrial Oasis, Food Supply Company (Foosco), Gulf Rubber Factory, EAG Industries, Bin Mahmood Company, Al Dahiya Industrial Company, Bahrain Non Woven Company, Quality Wire Products, International Laboratory Services, Gulf Plastic Industries, Gulf Electronic Management Systems, Al Mansoori and Keyrouz for the Food Industry, Zayani Polymer, and many others.