Al Bait UK Real Estate Fund Property Investment Manager to hold presentation in Bahrain on September 7 at Arab Banking Corporation Headquarters

The Funds selective purchases in the services and manufacturing sector are targeted to maximise such advantages.

UK statistics released this week by a variety of sources and the OECD interim assessment show accelerating economic activity in the UK. OECD estimates indicate that although GDP growth in the rest of the eurozone is lack lustre, the UK estimates are more than twice as healthy. The Times reported projections this year of 2.5% at the top end of the Chancellors forecast, as a fillip for Gordon Brown.

The latest Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) survey of private sector services economy indicated that activity in August grew at its fastest rate since the start of 2001. The survey found evidence of increased rents on property as a part of this exercise and suggested that the economy is now growing on a broad front. The CIPs surveys August headline index climbed by more than expected to 57 from Julys 56.6. Any figure over 50 indicates expansion and this increase reflects a significant increase in levels of new business.

The UK employment index also showed a boost, rising to 50.4 in August from 47.7 in July, significant in many ways including the take up of space.

Mr Thomas quoted the respected economist Anotole Kaletsky who reminds us that Britain enjoys the rare distinction of being the only major economy not to have suffered a single quarter of declining output during the recent period of global weakness. Mr Thomas added to this picture the work done by British companies to reduce reliance on Europe and increase exposure to Asia, which is likely to be a fast growing region of the world in the years ahead, and predicted that the economic climate in which Al Bait UK Real Estate Fund will exist in the next 5 years should be very suitable.

Commenting seperately on the British Pound investment units of Al Bait, Mr Thomas quoted The Wall Street Journal Europe who reported on 4th September that many analysts regard the US currency's recent peaks against the British Pound and Swiss Franc as a temporary rally in a fundamentally bear market. The current US recovery looks good for the dollar in the short term, but he repeated the comments of Monsoor Mohiuddin, chief currency strategist at UBS London that he expected the upward trend of the dollar to be reversed over the medium to long term (the term of Al Bait), given the need for the dollar to depreciate substantially to help reduce the US current account deficit to sustainable levels.