The Bahrain Economic Development Board and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development announce the 'World Investment Report 2005'

Bahrain's successful ranking was announced in the World Investment Report 2005 released yesterday at a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) event. The Kingdom of Bahrain was chosen to be the regional source for the announcement of the influential publication, following Bahrain's exemplary performance in the FDI world rankings in last year's 2004 report.

The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) hosted the announcement of this year's annual report, which delves into the recent trends in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows and explores the emerging internationalization of research and development by trans-national corporations, highlighting the driving forces and implications, especially in and for developing countries.

Bahrain was ranked 27th in this year's world FDI rankings, performing better than expectations for its previous FDI flow. The ranking position is an indicator of a country's attractiveness as a potential investment opportunity. Last year saw USD $10 billion go to the West Asia region, which includes the GCC. Of this almost USD $0.9 billion flowed into Bahrain, which is considered to be extremely healthy for a country of its size.

"The actual FDI flow performance ranks countries in the world arena according to the levels of FDI they have achieved in relation to their available resources, whereas the potential FDI performance category ranks countries according to the potentiality of a country to attract more foreign investment taking into account its existing infrastructure," said Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, CEO - EDB. "The report gives a numerical representation of where a country is in relation to its peers, and where it could and should be with regards to available resources."

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has been the focal point within the United Nations for the integrated treatment of trade and development and related issues in the areas of investment, finance, technology, enterprise development and sustainable development for its four decades of operation.

Its annual report, the World Investment Report, has been in publication since 1991. It is the only global encompassing report which is recognised the world over by governments and trans-national corporations for its depth and analytical viewpoint of the current trends in foreign direct investment (FDI) around the world.

The announcement was made simultaneously around the globe yesterday at 5pm GMT (7pm Bahrain time), 29 September, 2005 in Tokyo, Geneva, London and New York, as well as Bahrain. The Bahraini announcement took place at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Bahrain.