Many businesses close early on Thursday. Thursday and Friday as weekend applies to all branches of the Civil Services and schools. Some shops are open in the souk on Fridays for a few hours. The country's time-zone, intermediate between the East and the West, is a major asset in international transactions. Today Bahrain is the banking and financial centre in the Middle East with more than 180 financial institutions on the island.
Postal services are speedy and reliable.
Bahrain International Airport and the port of Mina Sulman are to international standards and well serviced. There are no town or area codes. The stock exchange has several key advantages. The biggest is its close association with the Saudi economy, a 30-minute drive away across the King Fahad Causeway. Another is that Bahrain has been in the global finance business longer than any other Gulf state.