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GS1 Bahrain impact on Bahrain economy

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GS1 Bahrain is the sole provider of GS1 System international barcodes for Bahrain, Yemen, and Iraq. It is one of the leading standards bodies in the GCC, supporting businesses with supply chain management, e-commerce infrastructure, and barcode issuance. GS1 Bahrain operates as a Member Organization under the global GS1 standards framework, which is essential for product identification, traceability, and global trade.

The organization provides unique barcode allocations to businesses, ensuring compliance with international retail and logistics standards. Its services include:

  • Barcode issuance (GTIN, EAN, UPC, etc.)
  • Global Data Synchronization (GDSN)
  • Traceability solutions
  • Product authentication
  • Training and consultation for barcode implementation
  • GS1 Bahrain is led by Raed Al Samahiji, who is the Founder and CEO. Under his leadership, GS1 Bahrain has grown into a key player in standardized trade practices and digital commerce across the region.

Yes, GS1 Bahrain has been operating since 2000 and benefits from both private and public sector support, participation, and subscriptions. This allows it to play a significant role in trade standardization, supply chain efficiency, and digital commerce in Bahrain, Yemen, and Iraq.

GS1 Bahrain has a significant economic impact on the local economy, particularly in trade, retail, logistics, and manufacturing. Here’s an analysis of its contributions:

1. Enhancing Trade and Market Access

GS1 barcodes are a global trade necessity. By providing internationally recognized product identification, GS1 Bahrain ensures that local businesses can access global markets, especially major retailers and e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Carrefour, and Lulu Hypermarket. This boosts exports and foreign trade revenues.

2. Strengthening Supply Chain Efficiency

GS1’s barcoding and traceability solutions streamline operations across industries like FMCG, pharmaceuticals, and logistics. This leads to:
• Faster product movement across supply chains.
• Reduced operational costs for businesses.
• Lower wastage and improved inventory management.

3. Supporting SMEs and Startups

GS1 Bahrain plays a critical role in formalizing and digitizing small businesses, especially home-based entrepreneurs and local manufacturers. By offering affordable barcode solutions, GS1 enables startups to comply with international retail standards, helping them scale efficiently.

4. Driving Digital Transformation and E-Commerce Growth

With Bahrain’s push toward digital transformation and e-commerce, GS1 standards are crucial in enabling:
• Online retail integrations (Amazon, Noon, Talabat, etc.).
• Secure digital transactions via product authentication.
• Blockchain-based traceability for compliance-heavy industries like food safety and pharmaceuticals.

5. Facilitating Regulatory Compliance & Consumer Protection

GS1 Bahrain ensures product safety and transparency, working alongside government entities to enforce:

  • Anti-counterfeiting measures.
  • Pharmaceutical serialization (tracking medicine authenticity).
  • Food traceability standards for supermarkets and suppliers.

6. Encouraging Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

By aligning with GS1 Global standards, Bahrain becomes a more attractive destination for multinational companies looking for a compliant, well-regulated trade environment. This helps attract foreign investments into sectors like retail, logistics, and industrial manufacturing.

Conclusion: A Key Economic Driver

GS1 Bahrain is more than just a barcode provider—it is a strategic enabler of economic growth, supporting trade facilitation, business efficiency, and regulatory compliance. By integrating local businesses into the global supply chain, it directly contributes to Bahrain’s GDP growth, job creation, and investment climate.

Determining the exact monetary value of goods traded using GS1 barcodes within Bahrain is challenging due to the pervasive use of these barcodes across various sectors and the lack of specific tracking data. However, we can provide an overview based on available trade statistics and the role of GS1 barcodes in commerce.

Bahrain’s Trade Overview:

  • Total Exports (2022): Approximately $22.25 billion USD.
  • Total Imports (2022): Approximately $15.54 billion USD.

These figures encompass a wide range of products, many of which utilize GS1 barcodes for identification and tracking.

Role of GS1 Barcodes:

GS1 barcodes are integral to modern supply chains, facilitating product identification, inventory management, and sales processes. In Bahrain, sectors such as retail, healthcare, and logistics extensively use GS1 barcodes to streamline operations and ensure product traceability.

Conclusion:

While it’s difficult to assign a specific monetary value to goods traded using GS1 barcodes in Bahrain, it’s evident that a substantial portion of the country’s trade involves products identified and managed through these standards. The widespread adoption of GS1 barcodes underscores their critical role in facilitating efficient and transparent trade within Bahrain’s economy.

Given that GS1 Bahrain has around 350 member companies spanning key industries like food, FMCG, steel, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals, the economic value of goods traded using GS1-issued barcodes is likely substantial.

Estimating the Economic Impact

  1. Food & FMCG Sector
    Bahrain’s retail and FMCG market is valued in the billions of Bahraini Dinars annually.
    Large supermarket chains and distributors rely on GS1 barcodes for inventory management and trade.
  2. Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Industry
    Bahrain’s pharmaceutical market is a multi-billion-dollar industry, with GS1 barcodes playing a key role in drug traceability and anti-counterfeiting measures.
  3. Steel & Industrial Goods
    GS1 barcodes are crucial in logistics, exports, and supply chain tracking for the steel and industrial sectors.
    Bahrain’s steel and construction materials market is a significant contributor to the economy, with exports and local projects driving demand.

Estimated Trade Value Using GS1 Barcodes

While an exact figure isn’t publicly available, we can estimate that billions of Bahraini Dinars worth of goods annually are traded using GS1 Bahrain-issued barcodes, considering the scale of industries involved.

Estimating the precise economic impact of GS1 Bahrain-issued barcodes on the local market and exports is challenging due to the lack of publicly available data. However, by analyzing Bahrain’s economic structure and the industries that predominantly utilize GS1 barcodes, we can approximate their influence.

Bahrain’s Economic Overview:

  • Gross Domestic Product (GDP): As of 2024, Bahrain’s GDP is estimated at approximately $47.8 billion USD.
  • Non-Oil Sector Contribution: The non-oil sectors contribute significantly to Bahrain’s economy, accounting for 79.2% of the total GDP.

Key Sectors Utilizing GS1 Barcodes:

  1. Manufacturing: Contributes 13.6% to Bahrain’s GDP.
  2. Retail and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG): While specific GDP contributions are not detailed, the retail sector is a significant component of the non-oil economy.
  3. Pharmaceuticals: The National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) mandates the use of GS1 DataMatrix barcodes on pharmaceutical products, underscoring the sector’s reliance on GS1 standards.
  4. Approximate Economic Impact:

Considering the sectors that heavily rely on GS1 barcodes:

  • Manufacturing: 13.6% of GDP equates to approximately $6.5 billion USD.
  • Retail and FMCG: Estimating conservatively at 10% of GDP, this represents about $4.8 billion USD.
  • Pharmaceuticals: Assuming a 2% contribution, this amounts to roughly $1 billion USD.

Aggregating these figures suggests that industries utilizing GS1 Bahrain-issued barcodes are responsible for approximately $12.3 billion USD of economic activity. Given that not all products within these sectors may use GS1 barcodes, a conservative estimate would attribute around 50% of this activity to GS1-standardized products, resulting in approximately $6.15 billion USD.

Conclusion:

Based on this analysis, GS1 Bahrain-issued barcodes facilitate economic activities worth an estimated $6.15 billion USD (approximately 2.3 billion Bahraini Dinars) annually. This underscores the significant role GS1 standards play in Bahrain’s economy, particularly in enhancing supply chain efficiency, product traceability, and market access.