Bahrain wins key approval

Almost 70 per cent of business leaders from around the world approve of investment coming from Bahrain, according to the Sovereign Brands Survey 2010.

Conducted by strategy consultants Hill & Knowlton and Penn Schoen Berland, the study interviewed elites in seven markets on their views of 19 host countries and their sovereign wealth funds (SWFs).

Stephen Davie, Hill & Knowlton’s head of financial communications, ME, said: “Despite being considered one of the least volatile forms of investment compared to other sources of capital, it is surprising that low familiarity still drives low favourability towards this type of funding. 

“The survey results show by working on their reputation and by increasing awareness of their SWFs is a key step for Middle East countries looking to open up significant investment opportunities.”

The Sovereign Brands Survey looked in detail at the factors elites wanted to see if SWFs intended to invest in their country or industries.

They identified transparency as essential, 72 per cent citing this as very important, closely followed by accountability (68 per cent) and good governance (65 per cent).

Bahrain scored well in terms of good governance and performance, but was marked down on transparency, especially by the UK with only six per cent of respondents seeing Bahrain’s SWF as transparent.