http://www.zawya.com/middle-east/financial-markets/bahrain/en-usCopyright 2012 Zawya Ltd. All rights reserved.Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:04:00 GMT1114476http://www.zawya.com/middle-east/financial-markets/bahrain/http://www.zawya.com/images/newsletter_zawya_logo.gifhttp://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidpdf_070212143138/BMI_Bahrain_Information_Technology_Report_Jan12The total size of the addressable Bahrain IT market in 2012 is forecast by BMI to be US$373mn, up froman estimated US$345mn in 2011. BMI forecasts a CAGR of 7% for 2012-2016. Bahrain's governmenthas responded to its domestic political turmoil in 2011 through a massive fiscal stimulus package, whichwas projected to boost total IT spending in 2011-2012. Meanwhile, global IT trends such as cloudcomputing, virtualisation and convergence will continue to gain ground in the Bahraini market.There should still be significant opportunities. Bahrain is becoming an important regional financial huband there should be substantial spending in this sector. Economic reform and trade liberalisation will fuelspending by public sector organisations and private enterprises to bring their IT levels up to internationalstandards. The country will benefit from trade liberalisation, strong demand from the financial sector, egovernmentand broadband.Industry DevelopmentsIn 2011, Bahrain's IT strategy supervising body the Central Informatics Organisation (CIO) launched aproject for consolidation and virtualisation of its IT infrastructure. The initiative was seen as the first stepof a pan-governmental move towards cloud computing. The virtualisation project was expected to resultin a number of benefits, including unification of the government's IT infrastructure, scalability for futureapplications and growth, enhanced security and the real ability to offer IT as a service.Meanwhile, the drive to modernise healthcare IT should generate opportunities for IT vendors in 2012.The government has mounted a drive to create unified systems for inpatients, outpatient and emergencyrelatedinformation. In 2011, the King Hamad University Hospital in Bahrain launched a project todevelop the infrastructure for a new National Healthcare System being established.The Bahraini government's 2011-2014 e-government strategy was unveiled for implementation in 2011.Bahrain's eTue, 07 Feb 2012 13:04:00 GMTBusiness Monitor International Limited pdf_070212143138Subscriptionhttp://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20120207105507/SICO_funds_continue_to_outperform_the_market_in_2011Securities & Investment Company (SICO) updated today performance results for 2011 for its six regional equity and money market funds. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:39:10 GMTPress Release ZAWYA20120207105507Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20120207113549/Bahraini_Saudi_Bank_and_Al_Salam_Bank_launch_TayseerThe Bahraini Saudi Bank and Al Salam Bank-Bahrain have started the New Year with the launch of " Tayseer " promotional media campaign. The new Shari'a-compliant product "Tayseer" is Murabaha-based personal finance that meets liquidity requirements of individuals.Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:32:33 GMTPress Release ZAWYA20120207113549Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidpdf_070212120852/BMI_Bahrain_Insurance_Report_Dec11The Arab Spring in early 2011 hit Bahrain far harder than any of the other Gulf Cooperation Council(GCC) countries ? and was a disaster for the aspirations of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and otherprotagonists who have done much over many years to develop the country as a financial services centre.Like its counterpart in Singapore, the CBB serves not only as the central bank but also as an extremelywell regarded regulator and promoter of all aspects of financial services.The latest figures published by the CBB confirm the observations made by many of the insurers operatingin Bahrain that conditions had become quite a lot tougher even prior to the end of 2010. There had beenintense price competition in a small and fragmented market that was not growing particularly quickly. Itwas plain that some companies were chasing market share (especially in motor-related and somecorporate lines) regardless of profitability. The downturn in the construction and real estate sectors wasalso unhelpful. The CBB?s final figures for 2010, which were published in October 2011, showed thatmany of the larger and longer established local non-life companies suffered a contraction in premiumsduring the year. It was only thanks to explosive growth in premiums in two smaller firms that the overallnon-life segment actually expanded. Results and official comments through mid- and late-2011 indicatethat almost all the growth in the segment during the year was in general takaful contributions written byBahrain?s takaful operators.If takaful is one part of the market that is still growing, life insurance is another. Media reports and other(admittedly quite scant) data suggest to us that premiums have been rising. However, this growth hasbeen concentrated in particular companies: several of the local life companies have suffered a contractionin their business. The companies that are expanding their life businesses in Bahrain are doing so as aresult of bancassurance deals and product innovation.Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:05:00 GMTBusiness Monitor International Limited pdf_070212120852Subscriptionhttp://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20120207093620/Venture_Capital_Bank_and_Bank_Alkhair_announce_the_acquisition_of_65_of_GoknurVenture Capital Bank and Bank Alkhair (formerly Unicorn Investment Bank) announced today the acquisition of 65% of Goknur Foods Import Export Trading and Production Co., which is one of the largest producers of fruit juice concentrate and fruit puree in Turkey. This equity stake in Goknur has been placed with investors in the GCC region.Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:49:28 GMTPress Release ZAWYA20120207093620Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidpdf_070212110343/BMI_Bahrain_Oil_and_Gas_Report_Nov11BMI View: Bahrain has a far smaller oil and gas resource base than its neighbours, but is a leadingregional refined products exporter. Over the coming decade, the country may begin importing LNG, butwill also boost both oil and gas production. Bahrain will continue to generate revenue from the AbuSaafa field, which is shared with Saudi Arabia, but will also continue importing Saudi crude oil to feedthe Sitra refinery, which may be expanded. Despite the political unrest in the first half of 2011, Bahrainhas not fallen in our risk-reward ratings as the country remains open to foreign investment.We highlight the following trends and developments in Bahrain?s oil and gas sector:BMI sees Bahraini oil production rising to as much as 90,000 barrels per day (b/d) by 2021, inline with efforts to boost output at the mature Bahrain field. We expect oil consumption to growto as much as 60,000b/d.We expect both oil and gas reserves to decline in the period 2011-2021, pending newdiscoveries. Oil reserves are expected to fall to 111mn bbl by 2021, with gas reserves falling toaround 80bcm.Gas production and consumption are likely to grow in tandem to just under 20bcm by 2021.Risks to our forecasts hinge on final approval being granted for the expansion of the Sitrarefinery and a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal to feed growing gasdemand.Bahrain?s dependence on oil prices leads to high volatility in the country?s export revenues. Ourassumptions of slower growth in China, a faltering recovery in the US and a worsening eurozone debtcrisis, clearly pose a threat to global oil demand. We assume OPEC basket oil prices will fall fromUS$101.90 per barrel (bbl) in 2011 to US$97.50/bbl in 2012, thus creating downside risk to Bahrain?smacroeconomic outlook.Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:59:00 GMTBusiness Monitor International Limited pdf_070212110343Subscriptionhttp://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20120204035849/Arab_stocks_rally_as_investors_upbeat_over_earningsArab stocks scored gains across-the-board last week as investors appeared upbeat over annual earnings and the improving prospects of a world recovery, financial analysts said Friday.Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:14:19 GMTArab News ZAWYA20120204035849Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidpdf_050212110737/Global_GCC_Monthly_Market_Review_Jan12This is a PDF report. Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:06:00 GMTGlobal Investment House pdf_050212110737Subscriptionhttp://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidpdf_050212102359/TresVista_MENA_Monthly_News_Jan12This is a PDF report. Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:22:00 GMTTresVista Financial Services pdf_050212102359Subscription