MANAMA, 30 May 2005 — Bahraini and Saudi businessmen are to set up a five million dinar ($13.3 million) joint venture to import Saudi sand for construction projects, a Bahraini newspaper said yesterday. The English-language Bahrain Tribune daily said the joint venture firm, named Bahrain Saudi Sand Company, would be listed on the Bahraini Stock Exchange but did not say when. “The official launch of the project (joint venture) will be announced after formal approvals from the regulatory authorities of both countries shortly,” the paper quoted Bahraini businessman Farooq Almoayyed as saying. Sand prices rose sharply in the small island state after government-backed suppliers in neighboring Saudi Arabia slowed down the volume of exports in 2003.
