September 2013 – Page 5 – Getentrepreneurial.com: Resources for Small Business Entrepreneurs in 2024

BahrainFinancialHarbour

There are many good reasons for setting up a new entrepreneurial venture in Bahrain. For a start, the string of government incentives on offer are hard to ignore. Bahrain is also the perfect gateway to markets in the wider Middle East and beyond. And the wealth of the region, much of it built on the back of incredible oil and gas reserves, is legendary. In other words, there’s plenty of money sloshing around, more than enough for any would-be entrepreneur seeking to turn a solid idea into a profitable venture. Need some more good reasons?

How about access to first-rate financial services both for the business you’re looking to set up and for any workers you aim to employ. Opening a current account in Bahrain is a reasonably straightforward exercise, even for expatriate employees, although the production of a passport, residence permit and tenancy agreement to provide proof of an address almost goes without saying. Some banks may also require an applicant to produce a letter from their employer detailing the salary which will be paid into the account each month.

Economic Freedom

Heard of the Index of Economic Freedom, the annual guide published by The Wall Street Journal and the Washington-based think tank The Heritage Foundation? Of course you have. The good news is that Bahrain ranks highly in the 2013 Index – again. In fact Bahrain is ranked 1st out of 15 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and its economic freedom score is well above the world average. It even ranks higher than the United Kingdom!

The index says, “As a regional leader in economic freedom, Bahrain sets a critical example for other countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Its transition to greater openness, diversification, and modernization is based on strong foundations of economic freedom. Firmly institutionalizing the rule of law by enhancing judicial independence and transparency will be critical to stamping out lingering corruption and ensuring success in this ongoing evolution.

“Despite the challenging external and internal environments, Bahrain has maintained above-average levels of economic freedom in almost every measure. It remains a financial hub for dynamic economic activity, with high levels of trade and investment bolstered by a competitive and efficient regulatory environment.”

So What About The US?

Tries hard but could do better just about sums up the United States these days. The US has lost ground in the Index yet again, with declines in monetary, business, labour and fiscal freedoms. According to the Index, “Registering a loss of economic freedom for the fifth consecutive year, the US has recorded its lowest Index score since 2000. Dynamic entrepreneurial growth is stifled by ever-more-bloated government and a trend toward cronyism that erodes the rule of law. More than three years after the end of recession in June 2009, the US continues to suffer from policy choices that have led to the slowest recovery in 70 years.”

But there’s much more to mull over. Restoring the US to a place among the world’s “free” economies, says the Index, will require significant policy reforms, particularly in reducing the size of government, overhauling the tax system, transforming costly entitlement programs, and streamlining regulations. So not much to fix then!

Still worried about setting up an entrepreneurial venture in Bahrain? Thought not! Read more from the 2013 Index of Economic Freedom here.

Popular college courses, yes, but how long’s a piece of string?

So what are the most popular college courses in the world? Crazy question. May as well ask how long’s a piece of string. And the answer? Depends who’s holding the said string, and more to the point, who’s pulling it. In academia’s rarefied atmosphere, that usually means the top universities in the world – Oxford and Cambridge in the UK, for example, and MIT, Harvard, Berkeley and Stanford in the US.

There are others, of course, big players with enormous reputations and budgets. So they tend to call the shots, and pull the strings, offering the range and depth of courses which attract the brightest minds from across the planet and which smaller universities struggle to match.

In the UK, 2013 university applications are up. But rising student numbers are not confined to UK nationals. According to the UK’s Guardian newspaper, applications from EU countries have increased by 4.9% and the number of applicants from outside the EU has risen by 9.6%. At the same point last year, applications were down from the UK and European countries. Of the non-European countries, Malaysia recorded the biggest rise in applicants at 22% followed by Australasia with a 12% increase.

And the most popular courses? The big winner seems to be computer sciences, up more than 12% compared to the same time last year. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone given how much computers and the Internet tend to dominate all our lives. At the other end of the academic spectrum, social sciences, arts and languages are feeling the popularity pinch.

It’s a slightly different emphasis across the Middle East, for example, where a degree is a highly-cherished attainment. In recent years, Persian Gulf states such as the United Arab Emirates have deliberately diversified their economies away from over-reliance on oil, an ever-diminishing resource, choosing instead to expend greater energy in developing construction, media, finance, tourism and other industry sectors. Thus it’s no surprise to find universities in the UAE reflecting the diversification process, or that a business degree remains the top choice for Emirati students.

If you’ve ever thought about studying for a degree overseas, perhaps even in the UAE itself, there are some fairly obvious benefits. Of course, sun, sea and sand springing immediately to mind. But there are other more important benefits, too, like the tax-free earnings potential once you’ve graduated. That alone is well worth considering as you contemplate the mind-expanding experience of living in a completely different culture.

There are also a diverse range and number of universities to choose from. One of the most popular is the American University of Sharjah (AUS) which offers students an international American university experience, its curriculum mirroring the American pattern of semesters and courses. Based in the city of Sharjah, the university, although a fairly new kid on the block, has rapidly built up a reputation for both academic excellence and multiculturalism. According to the website topuniversities.com, AUS has more than 5,000 students from 82 different nations and a highly qualified, full-time faculty of more than 350 professionals.

The website adds, “Typical of the American system of higher education, AUS also places great stress on the development of the non-academic aspect of a student’s university life. Students are encouraged to participate in all manner of extra-curricular activities,form clubs and societies, stage events, work for the university student newspaper and literary magazine, and join the various sports and athletic teams on campus.”

Sounds like the place to be. For more on AUS and other universities, click here.