‘Bahrain should expand fintech industry’

Manama : Bahrain should aim to bolster its economy by becoming the world’s first Islamic Fintech Centre, an expert said. 

The fact that there are no Islamic Fintech Centres in the Middle East or the world gives Bahrain an opportunity to step in and take that crown, according to Chris Skinner, a commentator and strategist on financial markets.

“Fintech is a financial service industry that utilises the latest available technology and has a lot of untapped potential in the Middle East. Bahrain
should expand its Fintech industry until the Kingdom becomes an ‘Islamic Fintech centre’. While Singapore, Malaysia, UAE and Qatar have made strides with Islamic Fintech, there are no Islamic Fintech Centres in the Middle East,” he told DT News. 

Skinner, who moderated a panel session at the GCC Financial Forum 2017 yesterday, said that he hopes to see Islamic Fintech progress faster. 

“In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), you have Bahrain that is becoming an Islamic Fintech centre, which is good because there is no Islamic Fintech centre right now,” he said. 

“There has been an anticipation for Islamic Fintech for many years as there is a huge market for Islamic products. Islamic Fintech Centres are yet to come up in the Kingdom. I think the ambition for Bahrain should be to become a hub for Fintech in the Middle East. Right now obviously Qatar and Dubai are competing quite heavily in the GCC markets, however, Bahrain has positioned itself well so far. So being a technology centre developing a focus around Islamic Fintech is going to benefit Bahrain,” he said. 

Government support will be the key for Islamic Fintech to achieve success in the Kingdom, he stated, noting the importance of the Central Bank of Bahrain(CBB) opening the market for Fintech in Bahrain.

The two day conference which concluded yesterday covered many financial themes, including economic impact brought about by the newly elected American President Donald Trump and Brexit and its impact to the GCC.