ABSTRACT
Resort to the capital markets for funding for industrial projects in the Gulf region varies from country to country. In several Gulf states the major source of capital is the government itself, as is seen, for example, with SABIC in Saudi Arabia or GHC in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. In such states resort to capital markets, if it happens at all, takes place at a later stage and is often not primarily a capitalraising exercise at all, but rather a privatization measure with the object of giving local nationals a stake in the future of their own economy or of satisfying an international treaty obligation of the state to liberalize the market in question. In other states, notably Bahrain and the Sultanate of Oman, where the resources available to the government for funding capital projects are relatively more limited, major projects are more likely to require the mobilization of private capital at an early stage.
