VIII.  TRADE AND PROJECT FINANCING

Bahrain is the financial services center of the Middle East.  Utilizing
sophisticated worldwide communications, it serves both a regional and a more
broadly international clientele and provides a complete range of financial and
banking services, including well-developed offshore facilities.  There are no
foreign exchange controls or other obstacles to the free movement of funds.

U.S. banks with offices in Bahrain:

1. Full Commercial Bank, OBU, and Representative Office:

   Citibank/Citicorp
   P.O. Box 548
   Manama, Bahrain
   (Tel:  (973) 257124,  Fax:  (973) 250510)

2. OBU's:

   Chase Manhattan Bank
   P.O. Box 368
   Manama, Bahrain
   (Tel:  (973) 535388, Fax:  (973) 535135)

   Chemical Bank
   P.O. Box 5492
   Manama, Bahrain
   (Tel:  (973) 254375, Fax:  (973) 251568)

3. Investment Bank:

   Merrill Lynch International Bank
   P.O. Box 10399
   Manama, Bahrain
   (Tel:  (973) 530260, Fax:  (973) 530245)

4. Representative Office:

   American Express Bank
   P.O. Box 93
   Manama, Bahrain
   (Tel:  (973) 531383, Fax:  (973) 530656)

The wide array of financial institutions in the country give a wide variety of
options for export and project financing, depending on circumstances of the
company's need.  Letters of credit are the preferred method of payment for
exports, although other means, such as direct transfer of funds, may be used
with adequate safeguards.

Multilateral Development Banks

EXIMBANK:  Eximbank financing can be used for appropriate exports to Bahrain.
For project financing, Bahrain is the home to 21 investment banks, and the
Bahrain Development Bank will also lend funds to appropriate local projects,
not limited to projects of Bahraini-owned companies.

IBRD:  The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), a
member of the World Bank group makes long-term loans at market- related rates
primarily to developing nations.  The International Development Agency (IDA),
the soft loan window of the World Bank, lends to the poorest of the
development countries.  Both the IBRD and IDA work to promote broadly based
economic growth and frequently focuses on structural adjustment, sectoral
reform and individual project lending and operate under the same set of
procurement guidelines.  Typically the World Bank does not finance the entire
cost of a project.  Rather, it finances the components of a project purchased
with foreign exchange, which on average is about 40 per cent of the total
project cost.  Each project may cover a wide variety of sectors and can
involve anywhere from one to hundreds of separate contracts providing export
business opportunities for suppliers worldwide.

CONTACTS:
U.S. Department of Commerce
Liaison to the U.S. Executive Directors Office
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
1818 H. St., NW
Washington D.C.  20433
Tele:  (202) 458-0118
Fax:   (202) 477-2967

Office of Multilateral Development Banks
U.S. Foreign Commercial Service
U.S. Department of Commerce
Room H-1107
Washington D.C.  20230
Tele:  (202) 482-3399
Fax:   (202) 273-0927