Bahraini’s mourn ‘death’ of business

Bahraini’s mourn ‘death’ of business

Hundreds of Bahraini traders conducted a mock funeral procession in protest at the foreign worker tax, which they say is killing businesses.

May 26, 2010 3:09 by Samuel Potter

Traders in Bahrain have taken part in a mock funeral procession in a protest against the country’s foreign worker tax, which they say is killing their companies.

More than 250 small and medium business owners took part, reports the Gulf Daily News. The workers carried a coffin as they marched to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI).

The tax, which was introduced in July 2008, calls for business owners to pay BD10 every month for every foreign worker they employ. This is the latest in a series of protests.

BCCI chief executive officer Ebrahim Al Lengawi said the private sector would benefit from the fee in the long term, but that he understood smaller companies had been affected.

“The BD10 fee is still new and we need to see how it goes at least after five years,” he told the paper. “SMEs have been affected, but we will see the benefit in the two or three years down the road when Bahrainis will be able to take a bigger role in small organizations,” he said.