Mumtalakat vows 1,000 jobs by 2020
MANAMA: Mumtalakat, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, announced it plans to contribute BD20 million to the National Budget over two years.
This is part of the company’s profit distribution to its shareholders for 2017 and 2018, approved by its board of directors in a meeting last Thursday.
The decision has been made in accordance with Article 39 of Mumtalakat’s articles of association which states that a percentage of the company’s net profits shall be transferred to the national budget.
“We are pleased to be in a strong position to make a significant contribution to the national budget while also continuing to pursue our investment strategy,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Mumtalakat chairman Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa in a statement.
“Although we continued to finance ourselves independently and meet our debt obligations, which resulted from borrowings to cover the losses of some of our subsidiaries, our investment model remained resilient, leading to a net profit of BD68.9m in 2016.
“In addition to stabilising and driving growth of important national assets through financing of more than BD600m, Mumtalakat aggressively pursued new commercially sound and sustainable investment opportunities while minimising risk exposure across various industries and asset classes,” he added.
Between 2006 and 2012, the company financed the national airline, Gulf Air, with more than BD475m and implemented restructuring initiatives to improve its operational efficiencies.
This resulted in a reduction in Gulf Air’s net losses by 86pc.
Mumtalakat also said it has formed a number of important joint ventures with leading international players that will collectively create more than 1,000 new jobs in the kingdom within the next three years.
As part of its downstream expansion plan, the sovereign wealth fund has partnered with Mueller Industries and Cayan Ventures to establish the first regional copper tube manufacturing facility in Bahrain, Mueller Middle East.
Scheduled to begin operations in 2018, Mueller Middle East will further enhance manufacturing exports, which currently account for 20 per cent of the kingdom’s GDP.
Mumtalakat’s chief executive Mahmood Alkooheji said since its inception in 2006, the company has played “an essential role in supporting the local economy by safeguarding and growing strategic assets, a source of wealth and employment for generations to come.”
To date, the sovereign wealth fund has investments in approximately 30 companies in Bahrain, providing more than 14,600 direct employment opportunities within its local portfolio.
Its total portfolio including international investments is valued at more than $10 billion.
Source: http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/257167/Mumtalakat-vows-1,000-jobs-by-2020
