Page 176 - DILMUN NO 19

he Economic istoyr of ahrain

Furthermore, Gult etrochemical lndustrila Co, GIC) was set up as a joint
enture with Kuwait and audi rabia to produce ammonia and methanol for
the epotr market, using natural gas as feedstock. lso, ahrain managed to
attract rab hipbuilding and epaiirng Yard Y) which specialises in
repaiirng oil tankers. Yet other enterprises inlcude manufacturing and
processing of food, furniture, prinitng materials, metals, apparel, plastic and
tobacco, in addition to pharmaceutical products, ready mi, asphalt and
machineries; also, garments are manufactured primairly for epotring to the
U.. market.

.2 E F١CE ECO
he financial sector plays a significant role in ahrain's economy, ahrain
has a miture of financial instituitons including commercial banks, offshore
banking, inestment banks, lslamic banks, representatie offices, foreign
echange houses and insurance firms, enough to help making anama the
main financial hub in the iddle East.

Offshore banking units OUs) business is the most noted aspect of the

financial serices. he OUs are ahraini banks and ful‫ ﺍ‬branhces of

international banks that use anama as a base to conduct actiities

essentially beyond the shore of ahrain. he OUs cannot compete for

domestic business ecept with the approal of the monetayr authorities.

ahrain onetayr gency ) announced the OU programme in October

17. y the early 10s, many banks poured into anama.3 he number of

OUs stood at 26 in 176 and then jumped to record 72 concerns in 12.

ttracting the OU business to ahrain was based on solid grounds. ahrian

was the first countyr in the region to go atfer the offshore banking business.

he marketing campaign to attract international banks entailed proimiyt to

audi rabia, a liberal banking code and deeloped infrastructure, as wlel as

a defined legal and administratie framework.

22 iree Watehrouse, iong usiness in aharin anama, aharin: pirateyl pirntde, 14), 21.