Intellectual capital to aid Bahrain : expert

Manama : Taking a cue from the successes of countries like Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea will help Bahrain immensely in building a knowledge-based economy, according to an expert.

“Building a knowledge-based economy is what will help Bahrain thrive in the long run,” President of Applied Science University (ASU) Prof. Ghassan Aouad told DT News in a freewheeling conversation here yesterday. 

In his view, Bahrain should follow the footsteps of countries like Singapore and South Korea, and build an economy based on intellectual capital. “These nations heavily focused on education to expand and transform their economy.” 

“We have lessons to learn from successful nations such as Singapore and Malaysia. They were not in the limelight a few years ago, but now they are economies with great manufacturing industries. South Korea has spent a significant percentage of their GDP on Research and Development, look at them now,” he explained.

“For instance, Singapore, which had been a poor country forty years ago, transformed themselves into one of the richest nations in the world now. They accomplished it through education. Education and knowledge are their main assets. Now they have universities that are some of the best in the world,” Aouad pointed out.

The expert reiterated that investment in research and development (R&D) would help the economy tremendously in the long-term. 

According to him, Bahrain is moving in the right direction. “If you look at the Economic vision 2030, they talk about knowledge being the top asset,” he said, adding that Bahrain has what it takes to succeed. “When you have leadership, innovation and the passion you will succeed.”

 Aouad commented that Bahrain has all the right ingredients to become a knowledge hub in the Middle East. 

“We want to see Bahrain as a knowledge hub. It has the infrastructure and the vision of the leaders. With the concerted efforts of private sector and public sector, we can achieve this and more,” the expert added.