Regulations are leading innovation in Bahrain, says Bahrain investor an technologist

Singapore is the startup hub for not just the Southeast Asian region but all of Asia, undoubtedly. With its technological sophistication, standardised regulation; it has attracted startup founders and VC’s alike. But the tiny island nation has its physical limitations and ranks as the most expensive country in the world to live in, from time to time.

And a tiny island with an equally affluent standard of living is inching towards becoming a technology hub like its eastern cousin, Singapore. Bahrain in recent years has been building its own financial technology hub to cultivate a vibrant startup ecosystem. Be it the regulatory sandbox or Temasek-like Tamkeen, Bahrain is heavily inspired by Singapore in powering itself as a startup incubator.

CEO of Almoayed Technologies– a privately-owned investment and digital infrastructure provider, gives us a lowdown on potential business development opportunities Bahrain presents to Southeast Asians tech startups. A technologist at heart, Abdulla Almoayed established Almoayed Technologies in 2016 with a clear vision to drive and accelerate the MENA region’s digital transformation and become a world-leading technology investment company.

How is the start-up scene brewing up in Bahrain?

In Bahrain, enabling and supporting start-ups is a core focus and priority of the government. The government is creating a system that supports start-ups and innovation, through embracing innovative minds and solutions, in addition to programmes which help upskill local talent. The government has also streamlined processes to make it easier for start-ups anywhere in the nation to create value propositions that address Bahrain’s development needs. For us, because we may have started a little bit later, it has allowed us to learn from other markets and companies and implement ideas that worked while avoiding some of the mistakes that others made.

How is the government facilitating this boom?

The Bahrain government has taken on numerous initiatives including launching a platform called StartUp Bahrain. It is a single source for startups to receive all the information they need, including a consolidated calendar of events and meetups, both large scale (like Unbound) and smaller meet-and-greets and fireside chats. It also gives startups direct access to accelerators, incubators and VCs to learn about the opportunities there. Additionally, the government labour fund (Tamkeen) works closely to enhance the startup ecosystem, through training initiatives and certification programmes to upskill the local community.

Tamkeen also co-invests in startups through incubators like Brinc and Flat6Labs. There is also a growing cross-border collaboration between Bahrain and its neighbouring countries, with the government providing mentorship on how start-ups can navigate these opportunities, and export our technologies. For example, the Export Bahrain initiative by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Tourism supports any entrepreneur and start-up by hand-holding its operations in order to enable export capabilities.

So once you are in Bahrain, not only do you get support from incubation all the way to acceleration to attain growth, but when you arrive at the growth stage and are looking for neighbouring countries to penetrate, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Tourism practically rolls out the red carpet for you and hand-holds you throughout the entire process.

What lessons did they borrow from Singapore and Southeast Asia?

Bahrain has always looked at Singapore as a reference point when it comes to fintech adoption. Historically, Bahrain, just like Singapore, has always been bold, and a pioneer in the world of financial services. The Central Bank of Bahrain has a history of being one of the first in the region to initiate Islamic banking, and as we see it being replicated in well-articulated and well-studied initiatives, we are taking away learnings from these markets to ensure that the infrastructure in Bahrain remains robust.

A lot of these learnings were taken from Singapore as well. For example, the regulatory sandbox, the processes for which companies are screened, and the collaboration of the Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN) initiative where regulators are speaking to each other to potentially get passporting capabilities for Singapore companies to come to Bahrain, and vice versa. So, we are very excited about what is going on in Singapore and are constantly watching and learning.

Also read: What Singapore entrepreneurs can learn from Thailand’s energised ecosystem

Can Singapore and Bahrain coexist?

Although Bahrain is smaller in scale compared to Singapore, Bahrain has the ability to pilot a project and scale it up to Singapore, owing to the close ties and collaboration across the governments. This creates a beautiful corridor of opportunity for collaboration between Bahrain and Singapore. Doing business in Singapore is a lot like doing business in Bahrain as a foreigner: 100 percent ownership rights across most business activities,  hand-holding opportunities where the government invites and supports you. Bahrain is in itself an incubator with the ability to test ideas while supporting a lower-cost lifestyle but lack of awareness is probably its major shortfall.

Can Bahrain supersede Singapore?

While we will never be able to match up in scale, I think Bahrain can match up to Singapore in terms of innovation pace, and adoption of regulations. Bahrain can match up is with the initiation of Team Bahrain– a public-private sector initiative that collaborates on innovative solutions to improve the investment landscape. With a simple phone call, people are able to reach key decision-makers to discuss issues and ideas, and that is something that really allows the Kingdom to accelerate regulations and embrace new technologies. In Bahrain, we are really being led by regulations at the moment, and regulations are leading innovation here.

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Image credit: Todd Gardner on Unsplash

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