By and large, financiers here are risk averse and conservative. They will offer overdraft facilities, but only when they are certain of a firm's commercial strength. Another leading Bahrain firm celebrating a milestone is Almoayyed Group. Its chairman, Farouk Almoayyed, watches over the group of sales, distribution and servicing companies. With interests covering retail consumer electronics, automobiles, real estate, perfumes and escalators, to name but a few, Almoayyed Group's top man can be said to speak authoritatively about Bahrain's commercial crucible.
Retailers have to follow fashion and sometimes that means following the herd.
My own view is that e-commerce won't affect the Gulf until customs barriers are removed. Reduced bureaucracy and overnight deliveries are also essential. Almoayyed adds that the expanding digital channel may be suitable for the sale of books, compact disks and toys, but many of his Bahraini customers of consumer electronics require after-sales service. And that may prove an impediment to the stream of e-commerce in the country. Also, in Bahrain, any two retail outlets are only a couple of minutes' drive away.