Mubasher: The third edition of FinTech Forward is concluding its activities in Bahrain, positioning the Kingdom as a global testbed for financial innovation, with the main focus on tokenization.
Backed by key stakeholders, including Benefit, Tamkeen, Visa, National Bank of Bahrain (NBB), Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK), this year's event gathered over 2,000 participants and 35 global fintech firms.
The conference witnessed the participation of 70 participants from the UK, who would like to discover more about the fintech sector in Bahrain.
The UK delegation’s presence reflects Bahrain’s position as an authentic hub in the region, thanks to the regulations in the Central Bank that accelerate the growth of this field.
Dalal Buhejji, an Executive Director in Business Development at the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), affirmed that the conference showcased how fintech has matured and evolved into a foundation of Bahrain’s non-oil economy.
Among the various trends explored, tokenization stood out as a technology that is transitioning from theory to real-world application.
“I feel that tokenization is the second step in the financial technology sector. We have a subsidized company from Egypt in Bahrain. It's in the tokenization sector,” Buhejji emphasized. “In a short time, we'll see tokenization being used more because this is a global trend moving forward.”
Regional & Global Presence
As for the partnerships, more than 38 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) were signed during the two-day conference.
Bahrain was selected by Google as a testbed for a new financial technology, marking what was described as the first national-level pilot outside of the tech giant's internal operations.
This decision was attributed to the size and agility of the Bahraini market. This is in addition to direct access to key institutions, such as the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and fast-track regulatory responsiveness.
The partnership aims to launch active transactions in Bahrain by 2026, with groundwork already underway and regional rollout discussions ongoing.
Not just in the GCC, Bahrain is the first in the MENA region to adopt a nationwide Cloud-First policy in 2017 and the first to achieve 100% 5G network coverage by 2021. These achievements reflect the Kingdom’s advanced digital infrastructure, proactive policies, and commitment to being a regional leader in digital transformation.
