Israel Advanced Technology Industries, the organization of high-tech companies operating in Israel, is partnering with Bahrain Fintech Bay to develop joint initiatives and support the fintech industry in both countries as well as regionally.
Under the new cooperation agreement, announced on Tuesday, IATI and Manama-based Bahrain FinTech Bay will work together to facilitate introductions and communications between start-ups, companies and venture capitalists looking to invest and develop in both countries.
Israel and Bahrain normalized relations in 2020 under the Abraham Accords brokered by the United States, which also established diplomatic relations between the Jewish state and the United Arab Emirates. The agreement paved the way for normalization with Morocco a few months later.
Bahrain and Israel are working to strengthen their bilateral ties. In February, Israel signed a technological and scientific cooperation agreement with the state of Bahrain, although details are scarce, which was followed by an agreement for cooperation in health, medical innovations, and medical research. . The two countries are said to have had a secret defense security relationship over the years.
The new fintech agreement was signed Tuesday in Tel Aviv by senior officials from Bahrain’s fintech industry and leaders of Israel’s fintech ecosystem. They were joined at the event by Bahraini Ambassador to Israel Khaled Yousif al-Jalahma, former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, who now heads SoftBank’s operations in Israel, and IATI CEO and President Karin Mayer Rubinstein.
Rubinstein said the deal marks “an important milestone for Israeli fintech companies” and a “wonderful opportunity for Israeli industry to develop new connections and collaborations that have not been possible until now.”
“Bahrain FinTech Bay is among the leading fintech organizations in the Middle East and together I believe we will be able to create quality and groundbreaking collaborations between countries,” she added in a statement. hurry.
Bahrain FinTech Bay bills itself as the “largest fintech hub” in the Middle East and serves as an incubator, accelerator, innovation lab, and workspace for start-ups and companies looking to integrate technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and big data in the financial services sector.
This Gulf country is a major financial center, once the largest in the region before being overtaken by the United Arab Emirates. It is home to some 400 licensed financial institutions and about 120 fintech start-ups, according to a 2022 report by Bahrain FinTech Bay.
Bader Sater, CEO of Bahrain FinTech Bay, said that the country “has taken huge steps to adopt and promote innovative technologies and we are happy to launch this partnership to enable the further development of the fintech industry in the country. State of Bahrain and to design new opportunities for the Bahraini fintech industry and our AITI partners.”
“This exciting step towards cross-border collaboration with Israel’s fintech industry will pave the way for future partnerships and strengthen the ecosystems of both countries,” Sater said.
Israel has more than 500 fintech companies, according to the Start-Up Nation Finder database. Israel’s fintech sector experienced a major boom in 2021, with investment in fintech start-ups and companies reaching $4.5 billion during the year, according to a March report by the firm. The Israeli investment company, Viola Group.
Amid a slowing market in 2022, Israeli fintech companies raised $1.5 billion in the first half of this year, according to the latest IVC Israeli Tech Review report for the first half of 2022 compiled by the research center IVC and LeumiTech, a banking arm of Leumi specializing in banking services for high-tech companies.
