Bahrain's stock exchange has established a market for real estate investment trusts (REITs), it said.

Under the plan, REITs licensed by the central bank can be listed and traded by investors in the secondary market. The details of the market and the trading mechanism of REITs will be announced later, the statement said.

While REITs are common in many markets, they are relatively new to the Middle East. Emirates REIT becoming the region's first in April 2014.

Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority (CMA) is studying plans to introduce rules governing the listing of REITs, sources aware of the matter told Reuters in May last year.

Designed to promote greater foreign investment, the trusts are securities which trade on stock markets but invest directly in properties and distribute profits as dividends.