Selling to government and contracts in Bahrain

01How government buys

The Tender Board regulates government procurement under Legislative Decree 36 of 2002. Tenders run on the eTendering system.

• The implementing regulations are in Decree 37 of 2002.
• Law 30 of 2026 amended the decree-law. It was issued on 14 June 2026, published in Official Gazette 3889 on 18 June 2026 and took effect on 19 June 2026.

02Supplier registration and bid documents

A supplier registers on the eTendering portal and the Tender Board approves the account. A bid needs two certificates.

• Commercial Registration: a bid needs a valid Commercial Registration certificate from MOIC.
• Bahrainisation: a bid needs a valid Bahrainisation certificate from the Ministry of Labour.

03Procurement limits and negotiation

Law 30 of 2026 sets entity procurement limits of BHD 50,000 and BHD 100,000. It also sets three cases in which the evaluating body negotiates with bidders.

• Entity limit: an entity can run its own tenders, auctions, purchases and sales up to BHD 50,000.
• State-owned companies: wholly state-owned companies can do so up to BHD 100,000.
• Negotiation: with Council of Ministers approval, the evaluating body can negotiate in three cases. The first is with a sole bidder. The second is with the best-value bidder whose price exceeds the estimate while also being the lowest. The third is with the top-scoring bidder and lower-ranked bidders where the score gap is 5% or less.
• Exemption: the Council of Ministers can exempt entities from the law for contracts carried out outside Bahrain.

04Price preferences

Three 10% price preferences apply to local and GCC suppliers. Where more than one applies, the higher rate is used.

05Bonds, foreign suppliers and deadlines

An initial bond comes with every bid. The performance bond is 10% for construction and 5% to 10% for goods and services.

• Foreign suppliers: suppliers from outside Bahrain get 20 days instead of 10 to provide the performance bond and to file a grievance on international tenders.
• Deadline: bids close at 1:30 pm on the stated date through the eTendering system.

06Commercial agents

Commercial agencies are regulated by Legislative Decree 10 of 1992. The Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission lists two amendments: Decree 8 of 1998 of 1 April 1998 and Decree 49 of 2002 of 23 October 2002.

• Scope: a commercial agency covers representing a principal in distributing or selling goods or in providing services for a fee or commission. The definition lists transport, shipping, airline, travel, insurance, printing, publishing and advertising among the services.
• Who can be agent: an individual agent must be Bahraini. A company agent must be validly incorporated, hold agency activity in its objects, be at least 51% Bahraini-owned and have its head office in Bahrain.
• Register: an agency must be entered in the Commercial Agencies Register. The law does not recognise an unregistered agency and no action on it is heard. Registration renews every two years.
• Contract: the agreement states the parties and their nationalities, the goods or services, the territory, the term, the commission and any arbitration clause.
• Termination: a fixed-term agency ends on expiry. A principal that withdraws a fixed-term agency early owes the agent compensation. The agent can claim compensation for goodwill where sales or customers grew and the termination stops the agent benefiting from that growth. A committee handles termination of an indefinite-term agency. The aggrieved party can claim damages.
• Replacement agent, stock (Article 22): the agent to whom the agency is transferred buys all the stock of the covered goods from the previous agent. The maximum price is the market price or the cost, whichever is less, plus 5% of that amount, unless the parties agree otherwise.
• Replacement agent, liability (Article 22): the new agent and the principal are jointly liable to third parties for all the obligations of the previous agent. Where the liability arises from goods or services it is limited to their market value.
• Supply: a suit, arbitration or similar action does not prevent the import of the covered goods or the continuation of the covered services. The Minister of Commerce can prohibit admission of the goods or continuation of the services if the public interest requires.
• Registration decision: the Ministry department decides on an application for registration or renewal within 30 days of the application.

07Authorised distributors

An authorised distributor is at least 51% Bahraini-owned. Three exemptions exist for foreign-owned companies and are listed below. Qualifying agreements enter the Authorised Distributors Register kept by MOIC.

• Ownership rule (Decision 29 of 2024): the distributor is at least 51% Bahraini-owned, or at least 51% owned by a Bahraini entity that is 100% Bahraini-owned.
• Register: qualifying agreements enter the Authorised Distributors Register and the distributor adds the Authorised Distribution activity (ISIC4 4699) to its CR.
• Exemption: Decision 22 of 2024 and Decision 53 of 2024 allow a foreign-owned distributor of up to 100% in three cases. A Bahraini-majority distributor already handles the same trademark. The brand owner distributes in Bahrain under the Article 5 conditions. Or the trademark is of economic importance with Council of Ministers approval.
• Own-brand sales: an entity that sells only its own brand does not need to add the activity.

08Contract law, language and currency

Bahrain has a civil law system. Court proceedings run in Arabic and documents need Arabic translation.

• Contract parties can choose arbitration or the Bahrain International Commercial Court.
• Under Decision 28 of 2023 the Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution (BCDR) can hear defined commercial disputes in English if the agreement is in English or says English prevails.

Currency

• The Bahraini dinar is pegged at BHD 0.376 per USD. The peg was set by decree in 2001.
• There are no foreign exchange controls on profit and capital repatriation outside oil and gas income.

09Courts and enforcement

Bahrain's courts run from the Lower Courts to the Court of Cassation. Local licensed counsel is mandatory.

• Court levels: Lower Courts take claims up to BHD 5,000. Judgments under BHD 1,000 are final. Then come the High Court, the High Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation.
• Precedent: there is no binding precedent.
• Enforcement: Decree-Law 22 of 2021 (Execution Law) covers foreign judgments and awards. Bahrain is party to the New York Convention, the 1995 GCC Convention and the 1983 Riyadh Agreement.

10Arbitration and the international court

The Arbitration Law (Law 9 of 2015) follows the UNCITRAL Model Law. Bahrain also has a bilingual international commercial court.

• Institutions used: BCDR, ICC, LCIA and DIAC.
• Seats used: Bahrain, ADGM, DIFC and London.
• Bahrain International Commercial Court (BICC): created by Royal Decree 9 of 2024 and launched in November 2025. It is a bilingual court for cross-border commerce. Appeals go to the International Committee of the Singapore International Commercial Court unless the parties agree otherwise.