Bahrain is a primary option for international investors looking to establish operations in the Middle East. The undisputed financial center of the Arabian Gulf region, and fast becoming the region's knowledge-based services hub, Bahrain's progressive outlook and international perspective are reflected in social and economic diversity. Being the first country in the Gulf to exploit oil in the early 1930s, Bahrain was also the first to actively develop non-oil industries through a strategy of sustainable development. Today, Bahrain boasts of well-established, non-oil dependent industries, and the infrastructure needed to sustain such business.
The sheer number of major international corporations present in Bahrain attests to its favorable investment environment. Those savvy investors have discovered a country with no income taxes, the most developed telecommunications infrastructure in the region, a liberal economic and social environment, and duty-free access to the larger GCC market. Benefits like these have consistently put at the top of the list of most free economies in the Arab world by the Wall Street Journal and Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom.
Bahrain's position as a meeting-place of different cultures has helped the kingdom recognize the importance of being fully integrated in the global economy. Bahrain is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Bahrain is a full active member of the United Nations (UN), the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), the Organization of the Islamic Conferences, Arab League , the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Islamic Development Bank and the Geneva Convention .
Bahrain's has a rigorous and comprehensive financial framework set by its central bank, the Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA). In 1998, in an effort to encourage investment, the BMA applied a higher minimum capital ratio (of 12%) than required by the Basle Convention (8%).
As a result of its liberal business environment, Bahrain has evolved into the regional center of international finance. The downtown business center of Manama, is home to leading international financial and commercial institutions, including Salomon Smith Barney, HSBC, Coca-Cola, IBM, UPS, Ericsson, Citicorp, American Express, Nomura Investment Banking, Arab Banking Corporation, Gulf International Bank, DHL and Investcorp.
Today, Bahrain is a hub to the oil-exporting GCC States with easy access to the rest of the world.
