The Middle East

In line with government plans to boost production and draw foreign investment to the aquaculture sector, Oman is encouraging foreign investors to take advantage of opportunities in fisheries and maritime exports.

With Abu Dhabi having invested heavily in building new attractions to draw in visitors, tourism officials are now busy promoting the emirate in a number of other markets, such as China and Saudi Arabia. Their efforts appear to be paying off, with a rise in the number of hotel guests coming from key source markets during the first half of 2012.

The government has announced plans to increase allocations to a key investment fund although there are still questions on how this move will affect state spending at home. The decision to strengthen the investment fund comes at a time when the government is also seeking to boost the domestic economy through its latest five-year National Development Plan (NDP).

The local economy appears set to sustain its recent upward momentum, as investor confidence returns and some core sectors rebound. However, there are still concerns that weak performance of key trading partners and tight liquidity could hold back expansion.

Growth in lending at the emirate’s top banks remained slow during the first half of 2012, but profits were generally up on those of the previous year. Meanwhile, the banking sector is preparing to comply with a new regulation from the Central Bank of the UAE that has been designed to reduce exposure to government-related entities (GREs).

The number of international arrivals to Bahrain surged in mid-August, as visitors headed to the Gulf country to celebrate the post-Ramadan Eid holidays. The tourism sector appears to be more generally looking up after a challenging 2011, with its direct contribution to GDP projected to grow by 3.7% per year until 2022, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council. Recent investor activity is largely in line with these expectations, with a number of new hotels set to open in the coming years.