The Bahrain Logistics Region, inaugurated in 2008, is situated in the heart of Salman Industrial City, in the Al Hidd Industrial Area opposite to the Khalifa bin Salman Port (KBSP) and 15 minutes from Bahrain International Airport (BIA).
The BLZ has now become a regional trans-shipment center with highly integrated logistics. It is planned and run by Ports and Maritime Affairs at the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications to deliver warehousing and logistics facilities to facilitate goods from the Khalifa bin Salman Port.
Also, the Bahrain Logistics Zone benefits from aggressive pricing and world-class facilities in import, export, re-export activities, the reduced time needed for unloading and re-shipping, a strategic geographic position that offers convenient access to GCC markets. All of these facilities put the BLZ as a destination for businesses wanting entry to the Gulf zone.
The Logistics Zone provides a base for local, regional, and international companies to operate in bonded areas and benefit from catering to the Northern Gulf and GCC markets. The tasks of the BLZ include assembling, marking, packaging and repackaging and combining, measuring and loading, kitting and palletizing, and testing and repair. These and many other facilities make BLZ an ideal location for company registration in Bahrain for supply chain firms.
Advantages of Company Incorporation in Bahrain Logistics Zone
- 100 percent of foreign investment is authorized
- Zero percent income tax on businesses working in the region
- Allows the establishment of Limited Liability Company (W.L.L)
- Ideal location to expand your activities in the Middle East
- An unsurpassed network of inter-modal capacities by sea, air, and land
- User-friendly business environment
- Accessibility to Bahrain International Investment Park, BIA, Bahrain Investment Wharf, and Khalifa bin Salman Port
- Smooth travel to Saudi Arabia via King Fahd Causeway
- Excellent access to Khalifa bin Salman terminal (The largest port in Bahrain)
- Useful freight forwarding from port to Bahrain International Airport within 20 minutes
- Shareholders of the company are allowed
- Flexible business processes allowing cross-docking operations
- Cost-effective spaces for offices and warehouse units
- Compliance to the International standards and best practices in transportation services and facilities
Facilities in the Bahrain Logistics Zone
- Excellent harbor and docking facilities for giant cargo ships
- Cargo and freight forwarding services
- Dedicated 24/7 on-site inspection of customs
- Thoroughly fitted, modern infrastructure
- Round the clock port service with protection
- Economic and adequate storage technologies
- Robust rail system
- Effective leasing cost
- The flexible plot of options as needed
- 100 hectares of prime property ready for expansion
- Outstanding customized customer service
- A unique framework for handling waste
Bahrain Logistics Zone is ideal for
- Logistic support facilities (i.e., import of raw materials and supplies, trans-shipment activities)
- Regional distribution (i.e., the export of manufactured goods and products)
- Freight forwarding (i.e., sea to air and sea to land delivery at the final point)
- Processing, assembly, and packing
- Storage and storage of goods
- Tour Agency
- Finance, insurance, investment
- Services in consultancy & management
How to Establish your Business in the Bahrain Logistics Zone?
1. Apply for Land/Support Services
The procedure to set up your company in the Bahrain Logistics Zone is an easy, straightforward, and fair application process.
- Prerequisites Review the eligibility requirements and the entry requirements to ensure that the company meets them.
- Complete the application form, and the finished application form shall include the application form.
- Financial reports containing the audited financial accounts for the last three years
- Company information, including periodic reports and strategic plans, where appropriate, to show expertise and other materials, including details of tasks and procedures, list of customers, and completed work.
- Additional details to support your application
- Send the application form and other supporting documentation
- Enable a response from the BLZ Selection Committee for two weeks
2. Check Your Status
As part of the vision of the PMA to be a catalyst for economic growth in Bahrain, the Bahrain Logistics Zone has been identified as a groundbreaking milestone logistics development with the overall objectives of generating adequate and high value-added jobs, fostering the participation of the private sector and making a direct and foreign direct investment for Bahrain.
3. Select the Structure of your Company
Bahrain Logistics Region seeks to attract high-performance and long-term profitable activities with an emphasis on sustainability.
- Logistics third-party (3PL) services
- Standard and specialized storage and processing operations for export / re-export purposes;
- Value-added logistics services such as assembling, cosmetics measuring, blending, filling, wrapping and repackaging, de-consolidation / consolidation, kitting, palletizing, marking for shipment, checking and maintenance, and other value-added logistics operations
4. Evaluation
Both applications submitted will be reviewed and tested by the BLZ Selection Committee. A thorough review of all forms and supporting materials will be conducted by the BLZ Selection Committee to ensure that companies approved for production will fulfill the Bahrain LogisticsRegion’s obligations and priorities. Upon completion of the application review procedure, applicants will be told of the decision (average decision time = two weeks)
5. Selection Parameters
To ensure that the general goals, plan, and feasibility of the zone are accomplished and retained, each submission of the organization will be made based on its ability to satisfy the following three-tier selection criterion.
a) Economic
With a 30% weight in their submission, businesses are judged based on their willingness to support Bahrain's economic growth objectives by:
- Leveraging Bahrain as a regional node for operations
- Creating mid-to high-value jobs for prospects for technology transfer
- Processes that include value-added operations
- Promoting Direct / Foreign Direct Investment
- The innovation of industry and business ideas
b) Industrial
Even with a 30% weight in their submission, businesses can demonstrate their ability to support the objectives of the Bahrain Logistics Region by
- Leveraging Port Services and Customs Free Procedure
- Targeted export / re-export activities
- Operations that include approved and focused operations in the zone
- Match the supply of land and utility capability
- Formance with protection, health, and environmental requirements
c) Financial
Most notably, for companies with a 40% weight in their submission, applicants must show their ability to meet the minimum company viability requirements.
- Experience and skills
- Financial health:
- Legal Enforcement
6. Application Judgment
Official letters communicating decisions on applications will be submitted to businesses. Applicants will be approved, scheduled to wait, or denied in the Bahrain Logistics Region.
- Accepted Businesses that are received go on to more negotiations with Ports and Maritime Relations on the site of particular plots/facilities and the preparation of a lease arrangement. If agreed, businesses would be bound to the terms and conditions of the lease agreement.
- Waitlisted Companies that could be approved if agreements with other admitted companies fail and space become available.
- Rejected companies in this group are not competitive in securing space in the Bahrain Logistics Zone.
Companies Trading in the Bahrain Logistics Region
- Almoayed Wilhelmsen (Shipping Business)
- Aramex (Worldwide shipping and courier services)
- Bandar Al Khaleej (Saudi logistics company)
- DHL (Market leader in Foreign logistics company)
- ECU Worldwide (one of the top global cargo & air freight logistics business)
- Fetchr (Dubai-based startup providing pickup and delivery services based on GPS)
- Kuehne Nagel (Swiss-based worldwide transport and logistics business)
- Schmidt-Heilbronn Logistics (European logistics company)
Why Establish your Business in BLZ?
The BLZ has a purpose-built ecosystem with a vast road network, extensive berthing facilities, and package entry permits. It is primarily designed to handle container truck traffic and freight forwarding operations while maintaining a dedicated import duties-free zone value-added logistics park in Bahrain. With excellent connectivity to Bahrain's state-of-the-art Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman port, BIA, and high-speed transport network to Saudi Arabia & the Middle East regional sector, coupled with low business operating costs, Bahrain Logistics Zone is the ideal choice for logistic companies and local trading companies looking to extend their operations to the Middle East.
If you're planning to set up a company in the Bahrain Logistics Region, we at Commitbiz are here to help you get the process underway. Contact us today as our Bahrain team is an expert in providing you with the right advice and knowledge on incorporating a free zone company in the Kingdom of Bahrain under local rules, customs and providing you with an insight into the business climate in the region