Bahrain seeks to exploit the downturn

After years spent in the shadow of its neighbours, Bahrain is hoping to claw back some of the business it has lost as a financial centre in the Arab world.

While rivals such as Dubai have been hit hard by falling property prices and scandals, Bahrain has only wobbled. Two regionally owned but locally based banks, Gulf International Bank and Arab Banking Corporation, have admitted heavy losses from investments in the sub-prime property market. But the island’s promoters say they are the exceptions that prove the rule.

“In tough times, people want to be in the most stable place,” says Kamal Ahmed, chief operating officer of Bahrain’s Economic Development Board. “Of course, nobody is immune to the crisis, but we have certainly shown we are less exposed.”