SEEF: The Kingdom of Bahrain has taken steps to capitalize on technological innovation paving the way for transformation and convergence of the national economy.
HE Zayed R. Alzayani, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, was speaking during an event hosted by C5 Accelerate in partnership with Tamkeen and said that the latest regulatory reforms such as, the accelerators and incubator license would yield positive results in Government’s efforts on diversifying the economic base of the Kingdom.
“Bahrain is rapidly emerging as a fintech hub in the region which will also help in diversifying the economy,” HE said.
The event was a part of efforts to strengthen communication and cooperation between policy makers and the startup community in the Kingdom, C5 Accelerate, event was entitled C5’s Policy Hack.
The Minister discussed the future direction of Bahrain’s economy and the importance of supporting and fostering small and medium enterprises (SME’s) to create a diversified private sector of thriving industries.
“We are excited to host His Excellency, Zayed R. Alzayani to discuss the MOICT’s successes in liberalising the market, encouraging entrepreneurship, and reducing government’s role to a more regulatory one and what his plans are for the future. The government plays an instrumental role in creating the right incentives and, more importantly, encouraging and nurturing a supportive environment conducive to the emergence of a robust and sustainable startup ecosystem. Greater conversations and cooperation between all stakeholders and government is key and this event is part of our plan to create a space to promote healthy dialogue and discourse on policy,” Hadyah Fathalla, Executive Director of C5 Accelerate, said.
C5 plans to host similar events in the future to engage a variety of leaders and policy makers to foster open conversation and information exchange and support economic diversification and development. It plans to convene thought leaders and influencers including, government agencies and regulatory bodies.
This event was planned to coincide with the Bahrain Global Entrepreneurship Week’s activities organized by Tamkeen from 13th to 20th November. The initiative, which runs in parallel with international events, aims to enhance the entrepreneurial spirit and inspire innovation across all business sectors in line with the Kingdom’s 2030 vision. Global Entrepreneurship Week is organized by Global Entrepreneurship Network and powered by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
C5 will launch its fourth programme in Feb 2018 and will be the first Fintech focused acceleration programme in Bahrain. The programme is aligned with the government’s ambitions to develop Bahrain into a regional Fintech Hub.
The Fintech start-ups will have access to specialised mentoring by financial institutions, AWS Solution architects and support in entering the CBB Regulatory FinTech Sandbox to name a few benefits. Applications for C5’s fourth intake are now open.
