>> Live from Bahrain, it's theCUBE. Covering AWS Summit Bahrain. Brought to you by Amazon Web Services. >> Hello everyone, welcome to theCUBE's exclusive coverage. We are here in Bahrain in the Middle East for exclusive coverage of AWS's new region in the area. I'm John Furrier, cohost of theCUBE. It's our first time in the Middle East, as we go out into the world and expand theCUBE's mission of bringing you the best content, extracting the signal from the noise, meeting new people, connecting with thought leaders, people creating innovation, creating a new cultural shift with cloud computing. It's a societal global phenomenon, it's a change that's going to impact society, culture, economics, and humans. And this is theCUBE coverage, we're going to continue with that we are excited to have Khalid Al Rumaihi who is the CEO of the Bahrain Economic Development Board. He's the man, and responsible with his team for all the success and vision of bringing an Amazon region into the area. Here in Bahrain, Amazon has announced a region that's going to come in. And we expect to see economic revitalization. We expect to see an amplification of culture. Welcome to theCUBE, thank you for joining me. >> Thanks for having me John. >> Thanks for inviting us, and thanks for having us here. Here in the middle of all the action. Teresa Carlson from Amazon had a vision and you aligned with that vision, you guys are like-minded individuals. You saw something special with digital. >> Right. >> And this is not new. It's not like you woke up one morning and said, hey, let's bring Amazon in. Take us through the history of how we got here with Amazon about to launch a region early 2019 in Bahrain. You guys have had a vision, take us through that. >> You know, I started in my position about three years ago. I remember March 2015, a little more than three years ago. And my first week on the job, was joining his highness the crown prince in a meeting with Teresa. And so, in that meeting, that's what kicked it really off. Teresa heard form his highness, who is the chairman of the Bahrain Economic Development board, the vision for the country. We deregulated our telecom sector about 13, 14 years ago. We were the first country to do that in the Middle East. Which meant that we introduced competition on broadband, on mobile. It dropped prices by about 50%. On connectivity in the country. That attracted Amazon. When they looked at the region, they said, here's a government that's allowing true competition and for a data center obviously broadband communication, and the competitiveness of that price is key. And she was also impressed with his royal highness's vision for the country going forward. We want to become a digital economy, we want to transform this economy from an oil-based economy, to one that is based on information. And so we had a common view. And we determined, at that point, that we were going to do everything in our power to translate the conversation we had there to a reality. And here we are, almost three years later, almost to have a region here. >> And you know, people know my rant and rave, I always talk about, data is the new oil, information is the new oil. In that data and information, digital assets are digital. It a life-blood now of society. Citizen are reacting. Everyone's now connected with mobile devices, you're starting to see autonomous vehicles, you're starting to see a cultural blending between the old world, and then digital. And citizens can get new services, there's more efficiencies but there's actually a better opportunity for the citizens. And also in general. How do you guys look at that when you guys have your meetings, and you're looking at the vision of the future, the citizen benefits. Whether it's an entrepreneur or someone who's just living life. >> Well you know, when we had this discussion with Amazon, we decided to do what we call a cloud first policy. And we decided that we were going to move the government work loads to the cloud. We were going to actually, challenge any government institution, why they're not using the cloud. And it's been phenomenal. Now, it's been phenomenal from a cost saving perspective, which we want to pass on to the citizens. So for the citizens, for be for them to be able to get government services on their mobile phone, to pay their electricity bill to do get their license. And the government, if it reduces its cost can pass that on to that citizen. But more importantly, it's going to allow innovation to take place in the government. We're going to be able to have our education data in the Ministry of Education, communicate with our labor data. We're going to be able to do education in a new way. So it is going to unleash innovation in the government and the way it offers its services. We think it's going to do the same for businesses and for startups. >> We didn't get a chance to film it yesterday, but we were part of with Teresa Carlson's team with you and your startup Bahrain. All the entrepreneurs from the community, very vibrant, talking General Keith Alexander was there, knows a thing or two about cyber and then we had an entrepreneur visionary in John Wood, who's been in the business, but he's also a visionary. He made a comment and you reacted to that around the impact of the AWS region coming here. He was almost like, there's a storm of innovation coming and you align with that. You said, you kind of reacted at dinner last night about it. What is your feeling of what this will bring to the region? 'Cause Amazon has proven that when they put a region out, there's unexpected consequences sometimes like things you might not see. What are you expecting for the impact. For AWS? >> I think it's a game changer. I mean, you said data is the new oil. If we think back to the 30s, this country was the first country to discover oil. When, at that time, Texaco and So Cal started a refinery and started extracting oil, all the industries that developed around it refineries, oilfield engineering, oilfield services. You know, I think we're seeing we're going to see that in the new digital economy with data. Amazon coming here is going to do several things. Number one, it's going to unleash this innovation, it's going to reduce latency for people who are storing data looking to retrieve that. It's going to create new jobs, data scientists. We estimate 10,000 jobs are going to come on the back of this, that is going to be for the entire region. And I get it, I emphasize this is going to be a game changer, not just for the kingdom of Bahrain, but for the entire Middle East. We're already seeing startups who are getting educated about what the cloud can do for them, and the scale, the scale that they can reach by going to the cloud early on, we've seen them in the United States. Why can't this region see a unicorn that is able to be a global leader, just by virtue of, going to the cloud and learning from Amazon. And Amazon, AWS shares our passion for the startup community and what this can do for that. >> I want to get to the what's going to attract business to come into Bahrain. But first about what startup impact Amazon has proven and I heard a comment from one of the startups, Amazon Web Services is for big companies. Whoa, whoa, yeah, big companies are using Amazon now, but they won, they were built on the backs of startups. When Amazon first started and startups still use Amazon. It is a dream for a startup, the cost to get a company up off the ground, the speed of innovation with Amazon has proven startups, this is a big opportunity. And so this is going to impact how you set policy and get out of the way entrepreneurs, do you help them? As you look at policy, is that almost a tough decision on your part? 'Cause you guys are used to helping entrepreneurs, very entrepreneur friendly, but almost do you get out of their way, do you help them? What's the strategy for the startups? How do you look at this, because if the acceleration comes in and the training kicks in, you're going to see a renaissance of entrepreneurs, >> Right? >> What do you do, get out of their way, help them out? What's that? >> You got to balance it. I think, you can't coddle them. You can't do everything for the entrepreneur, there's got to be that grit, the resilience, that hunger at the entrepreneur. I was an entrepreneur before I took this role, and I think you've really got to have that fire in your belly. So what we want to do is we want to create an ecosystem, but we don't want to spoon feed them. So what we've done is for instance, we launched a $100 million venture capital fund of funds. And we said, the government shouldn't invest in startups but let's create a fund of funds that will invite venture capitalists to base themselves here, but we're not going to tell these venture capitalist how to invest. So each startup has to pitch itself to these venture capitalists and make sure that there's justification for it. We're going to create, you know, training, we're going to create elements, the regulation. We introduced a bankruptcy law this year, that is going to allow people to fail and to restructure. So we're going to put the policy in place. We're going to allow capital to be there, we're going to look at our training and education. But again, it really is down to the entrepreneur, to, so you've got to mix you've got to balance it. You've got to say, the burden is also on you to think about what's the market opportunity. Here is what the country will do, but then the rest is up to you. And I think, we're going to see our young youth in the region. We're doing this because this region is transforming. This region needs to create jobs. There's about a 100 million jobs you need to create in the Middle East over the next couple years. You're not going to be able to create that in the normal way. So we want people to become employers become entrepreneurs, rather than just employees and looking for a nine to five job. So it's integral to the vision of the region. >> Entrepreneurship is the engine of innovation. All right, let's talk about the region. You know, we're first out here so I'm kind of new, fresh eyes and you see Dubai out there, you got Asia, China and all these in Hong Kong and Singapore. So you guys have a unique opportunity. Dubai is kind of like a New York, it's hustle bustle is built out. You guys have this feeling like a Silicon Valley vibe. >> Right? >> It feels very open, very friendly, so you don't have to compete with each other. And New York does things, Silicon Valley does things. So you have this entrepreneurial culture. The key is a global co-creation a connection. How are you going to attract businesses? Because there is demand in the US for domiciling in places outside the United States. There's been a lot of competition. >> Sure. >> So are you prepared for companies to come here work with you? I know you guys are doing a lot of work. What do you say to the folks out there saying, I need to have a presence. Can I domicile in Bahrain? What's it like? What's the opportunities for me to connect into a growing ecosystem around Bahrain? >> So I'd say first of all, on the region, I mean, just like in Asia, just like in the US, you can have multiple hubs. So you know Bahrain will be a hub alongside a Dubai or a Riyadh or a Kuwait and so forth or a Abu Dhabi. And our niche is, as a small country, we're going to be very agile. One of the reasons why Amazon chose Bahrain is because we have a team Bahrain approach. And I, you know, I came from the private sector, when you're talking to General Electric, you're not talking to one department in General Electric, especially if you're a large customer. The whole company's going to rally around you and bring a solution to you as a customer. We're going to do that as a country. So with Amazon we got all the various ministries and we took a team Bahrain approach and we said we're going to solve through the economic development board, we're going to solve for your problem. Mondelez, which chose to locate their $100 million facility in Bahrain, built a facility about 30 soccer pitches, and they did it within a year and a half. We reclaimed land and had the land ready for them. They called it 'cause they make Oreos, they call it turning ocean to Oreos. >> Yeah. >> And so it's that agility that is going to differentiate us. In terms of niche, we're very interested in FinTech. We think we're going to take a leadership position not only regionally, but globally in FinTech. We have exciting announcements that we're going to make in FinTech. It's a small country, we can be nimble, agile, startup friendly, and kind of innovate. And so we're determined to carve a niche in open banking, in crypto currency exchanges, interesting innovation areas that we think we can excel at. >> Cloud computing certainly is a driver, artificial intelligence, obviously clearly. The fodder for entrepreneurship because it allows you to do things with data at a scale with a cloud engine, talk about FinTech and banking you can't ignore blockchain and crypto currency, which is bubble-ish right now, and then was kind of cleaning itself out, sorting itself out, but when that starts to settle and it becomes legitimate in the sense of a global access to digital money, or software defined money. >> Right. >> And data, that could be an integral part. How do you guys look at that? I know that's something that everyone's talking about. People are looking to do token kind of business models and there's really hasn't been any leadership globally at all on. >> Right. >> This is a place people can domicile, here Malta, here, there and there. So how do you guys look at that market, are you thinking about it, are you kicking the tires, what's happening? >> We're looking at FinTech and saying, really, beyond all the logos and all that. We're looking to reduce the friction for a customer doing the simple things. Looking at aggregating your accounts, understanding how you're spending money, looking at how to transfer money, looking at how to raise capital. If we can look at reducing the friction for people around these challenges, these day to day challenges and use our country as a pilot for doing that. Then imagine the potential that once you illustrate the potential here, you could go replicate it elsewhere. So we're very interested in blockchain. So you talk about crypto currencies, I think the real interesting element is the blockchain opportunity in FinTech and beyond. How can you allow the distributed ledger to have multiple applications. We're going to introduce issuing car licensing by a blockchain. Land, real estate transactions via blockchain. In addition to that, we're looking at open banking and allowing open banking to be prevalent here and allowing entrepreneurs to plug in and get access to that data and innovate around that. So that's how we're thinking about innovation in FinTech. >> Really, thanks for coming on and spending the time. I know you're super busy, and thanks for hosting us with theCUBE as part of the Amazon contingent. I give you the final word for the folks watching out there. What should they know about Bahrain that they might not know about it? And how do they engage with you guys? What are you guys doing? How should someone contact you? How do we engage? And what's the secret sauce of the Bahrain plan? >> Well, first of all, I'm going to plug my institution. It's simple, look at bahrainedb.com. It's on the internet. It's going to give you everything you need about what Bahrain. And what I'd say is, this is a small, but you know in this, in today's world, a global world and interconnected world, small is beautiful. So we're a small, forward thinking country. We're in a region that is about $1.5 trillion in terms of just the Gulf Cooperation Council. And here is a great gateway for tapping into that opportunity. We're about 30 minutes from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia which is doing wonderful things with Vision 2030, and you can be in Bahrain accessing that opportunity. And so I'd invite you to come, look at our website and the Bahrainedb will help you translate that kind of opportunity to a reality. >> Khalid, Chief Executive of Economic Development Board in Bahrain. Bold move congratulations. Bold moves have bold payoffs. Big bet with Amazon. >> Thanks, for having me John. >> Thanks for coming on. It's theCUBE here, we're live in Bahrain here at the Ritz Carlton for AWS summit 2018 here in the Middle East. I'm John Furrier. We'll be back with more coverage after this short break. (upbeat music)

>> Live from Bahrain, it's theCUBE. Covering AWS Summit Bahrain. Brought to you by Amazon Web Services. >> Hello everyone, welcome back to theCUBE's exclusive coverage live here in Bahrain. This is our exclusive coverage of Amazon's new region we're covering. Part of AWS Summit, first time here in the Middle East for theCUBE. We're excited to be here. Next guest is Tala Fakhro, Executive Director of Market and Strategy Intelligence of Bahrain's Economic Development Board, also known as the EDB. >> That's right! >> Great to see you. Thanks for coming on. >> Thanks for having me. >> I've learned so much and it was great to meet you last night and have a conversation around some of the things you are working on. The Economic Development Board is a big part of this digital first, cloud first strategy. >> That's right. >> And Amazon's at the center of it. They're going to drop a region in here. This is really big news and it's certainly got our attention. And I've learned so much about what's happening in the startup community. >> Yes, we are very-- >> You've got a lot going on. What's the impact of the AWS region mean for Bahrain, the region, and the economic development opportunity? >> We took a look at Bahrain, and we decided we are going to have to transform this economy from an oil dependent one into a digital one. It just, it seemed like the right thing to do. And having Amazon here, attracting Amazon, allows us to plant that flag to say we are serious, we want to do this. And we will do what we need to do. We, we work together as a government. You know Bahrain is unique because we can do we can do things really fast when we want to. We built the Formula One Racetrack in 14 months, which is unheard of. And we did the same for Amazon. We engaged with them at every level. It wasn't just let's talk about this plot of land here, or this fiber optic cable there. We had the government engaged in legislation, and regulation and education. Every part of the government was actively pushing for this transaction. >> And I think that's an important point. I want to just amplify and double down on that and talk about it, because I think culturally, Bahrain, what I learned was this is a culture of fast moving, open, friendly but pragmatic people. >> Absolutely. >> And that's Amazon's ethos. >> Absolutely. >> Scale, move fast, and innovate. >> Absolutely. We, we've been a trading nation all our lives since time immemorial, you know. We're a tiny little country in the middle of the map. We were cross-border trading before we knew what that was called. So this is something not unique to us. It is part of our DNA, and we found a good match with Amazon. They wanted all the same things we wanted and they are genuinely interested in making the ecosystem of the countries in which they install their regions better. And we found that to be very attractive for us. >> So I've got to ask you, as Amazon comes in they're expected to have that, this region up and running in the beginning of 2019. >> That's right. >> Which is just right around the corner, so they're running fast, so congratulations. >> Thank you. >> It's the new Formula One Racetrack for cloud computing. What is driving the demand for cloud computing? Because obviously we've seen the history of what's happened in North America with startups. >> That's right. >> And as Amazon goes around the world, there's a growth engine underneath Amazon. What's driving the demand for cloud computing in the region? >> Well, 96% by some measures of our entire economy are startups or SMEs. So you could imagine that the cost savings that Amazon offers is extremely attractive. In addition, the volatility of oil prices has put a big crunch on the government budget and so they are also attracted to the idea of saving some money on the cloud. And the government is a big employer and a big consumer. So they really drive the economy. >> Yeah. >> So in both, it was a win-win for everybody. We are really interested in making sure that our Startup scene is vibrant and is scalable. And cloud is the way to do that. It allows you to use as much as you need and pay for only what you would consume, so it's great. >> And so, Khalid Al Rumaihi, the CEO of the EDB. >> Yes. >> Who's a very good visionary. He has private sector background, super smart. Really enjoyed that conversation. But one of the things that we talked about was we always say in theCUBE and sometimes debate this, but data is the new oil. >> Absolutely. >> Couldn't be more indicative of an oil region, and you mentioned that in moving off the dependence of oil, or getting into a new market like data, data needs refineries as an economic opportunity. So he mentions, Vintech as a big driver for what could be possible in Bahrain as a core competency. When you do your research and your insight and intelligent analysis of the data of what's going on the macro level, is that consistent of what you are seeing that there's a need for this digital refinery, being a center point of innovation? And if so, what does that mean? What is, how should people understand that Bahrain is a small country in a big region? >> It is a small-- >> How do you differentiate? How do you take a leadership opportunity? >> Well, Bahrain is a small country but it is a small country that's rich in one thing. If it's not rich in oil, it's rich in its people. We are bilingual. Many of us are trilingual. We've always been open and outgoing and we've been willing to make partnerships and friends with other nations and other places. So we think that our human capital is coming together with the hard infrastructure that a region will bring. It makes it a, you know, a real good proposition. And it allows for our students, who are, by the way, already starting to be cloud trained. Over 2500 Bahrainis have signed up for cloud training since the program started six months ago. >> Yeah. >> That's a huge proportion given our population. That's a much faster rate than India or China for example. >> Yeah. >> So this shows you how much, how willing we are. You know coding is the new English. We learned English in the 70's so that we could compete globally. Now we are learning coding to do the same thing. >> And that's super important. Let's talk about the human capital side of it, 'cause I think this is a good point that a lot of people overlook. Everyone's now connected with mobile devices, so connectedness is now common. So coding is the new language. Digital is the new culture. How are you guys looking at transforming some of the day-to-day citizen roles? Because now you have opportunities to serve citizens from a government standpoint and to get enable them to be successful. And one of the things that I noticed at the Startup Bahrain sessions I was attending yesterday was the vibrant entrepreneurs. They're opinionated, which I love. 'Cause that's what entrepreneurs are. They're like, come on, let's move faster. Where's the cash? Where's the capital? So the human capital seems to be a big equation here. What are you guys doing to facilitate that? Where are you guys on the progress bar in your mind? Are people coding at a young age? Has it started? Is it, what's, what's the progress? Can you take us through the plan? >> Well we, as I mentioned, for a cloud computing, specifically we already have programs in place. We also have many other initiatives coming up through Udacity, through Carcera, through others. We are bringing them to Bahrain to have the technical skills added to the human capital skill set that we already have. But I think most importantly, we are making it important. We are making it a forefront of the government agenda. You know, we are making it something that is a requirement. And I think that as we set our national economic strategy for the next four years, human capital is a crucial driver for that and it is going to have it's very own chapter with all the recommendations and all the initiatives that we think need to be done in order to increase, not just our stem cell but also our creativity, our entrepreneurship, >> Yeah. >> And all the things that had made us great in the past. >> You know as I was observing also, talking to your CEO about, I've seen people trying to replicate Silicon Valley trying to manufacture innovation in a way or trying to get a momentum. It's really hard. But what you guys I think have done or have here that's hard to do or hard to replicate or manufacture out of thin air is you guys have actually built a community of people. I see the entrepreneurs. I see the support around them through the EDB. You have money? >> We do. >> And you have growth coming. The other stuff's mechanics. How do you get funded? How to do this? How are you looking at that? When you look at the research and you dig into, and sometimes the best move is just let it develop. Get out of the way and let the entrepreneurs develop. How are you guys letting this develop because I won't say that Bahrain has an identity crisis. I think they have an opportunity to set a new identity. >> Absolutely. >> How do you look at that? And how do you guys see that opportunity? How do you talk about it? >> Well, you can't buy innovation. I think we've proven that enough times, that government is no good at making people innovate. But what we can do is make life easier for those who want to innovate. So what we want to do is pave the way. Allow for the opportunities to be there. And then, you know, then it's every man for himself and the free market will compete. We're a very free market oriented entity and government and so all we're going to do is we're going to get out of the way. But we're going to make sure that the path is as clear as we can make it. We are going to make sure that whatever we can do to help, we will. Whether that's bringing somebody like an Amazon here, to have the people here or the Al Waha Fund which is a venture capital fund to fund, which was just launched and which is already invested in. And three or four independently managed >> Yeah. >> Venture capital funds. We feel like these kinds of things, where we're not directly funding but we are encouraging, motivating, helping, that's the role of the government. >> And I also want to just to say to the folks watching, you guys and give you guys some props, you don't just talk it, you walk it. And I think what I noticed in the sessions yesterday and meeting some of the top policy makers and the entrepreneurs was you guys are actually doing the work. >> Oh, we're trying. >> And Teresa Carlson's success in Washington D.C. with Amazon web services really is a testament that if you do the work, the results will pay off. And when Teresa came to Washington DC, Amazon Cloud Computing was like, whoa it'll never work. It is not secure. You know, now they are winning. They are doing extremely well. I've seen the model. Everyone's emulating and moving towards. You guys are doing the work. I see the check boxes. But there's still some work to do. EKYC, other things. >> Yup. >> So congratulations. >> Thank you very much. >> So the question is, what do you got done and what is to do? And what does that mean for people who want to come either work here or collaborate with Bahrain? 'Cause if you check the boxes you're going to be set up. What's the status? >> Well, the first thing we wanted to do was to make sure that the soft infrastructure was there, so we, as a government passed what we call the digital ecosystem package. So that's data protection. That's electronic transactions laws. There's a new law that's in the process that will allow people who are storing data on Amazon's region in Bahrain to bring their own laws with them. So that there are no issues with conflict of laws. >> On the compliance side? >> Exactly. >> Yeah. >> So you know, it's as if they are storing in Saudi or Kuwait. >> Yeah. >> But they are storing here. So these kinds of things, this was the first step. And we've passed a bunch of those laws and we think that they are very important. In addition, as I mentioned, we have the funding situation. We begin to look at that. We hope that with this-- >> That's a hundred million fund of funds. >> That's a hundred million dollars fund to fund. >> Fund to fund, which means that you are going to enable private sector-- >> Correct. >> And professionals to come in. >> Absolutely. People who know what they're doing, who have done it before, in the region and outside of the region, whether it's Silicon Valley or Dubai. They're going to come here and they're going to look at the Bahraini startups, and that gives us the chance to compete on the world stage and shine. And it also gives us the chance to up our game. Once you see the competition, then you can >> Yeah. >> Fix and adjust and do what you need to do. And that's what we want. We want them. We're not going to help spoonfeed them. >> Yeah. >> We're not going to give them charity. This is, you are going to compete because what we dream is that Bahrain will eventually become a global player, and we think we can do that. That's our vision. That's what we want to do, and that's where we are headed. >> So you guys are competitive? >> We have to be. (John laughing) We're a tie, we are the underdog. >> Yeah. >> But sometimes underdogs win. >> You know as I was saying also observing that, we're our first time here with theCUBE in the region. So I was noticing that, you know, we see a lot of events in Dubai. And Dubai is very blown, built, blown up now and is developed. Bahrain feels like Silicon Valley because New York is different than say, the San Francisco Bay area, Silicon Valley. But they don't have to be each other. New York is New York. Hustle, bustle. Silicon Valley is where innovation is. It feels like you guys have that same kind of-- >> We do. >> Vibe here. >> We do, and a rising tide lifts all ships. Where there's good for the Emirates and Saudi, there's also good for Bahrain. It's a region at the end of the day. We're too small to be a player on our own. But one thing I wanted to touch on, you mentioned, that, you know, with the Silicon Valley. The difference between New York and Silicon Valley is everybody knows everybody in Silicon Valley. So if you are an entrepreneur and you have a good idea, you can easily access the people that you need to access. >> Yeah. >> We think Bahrain has that advantage too. And this is-- >> Yeah. >> Clearly demonstrated in the Amazon transaction because you know at the time when we could, we had everyone from His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince on down. If we needed them, they were a phone call away. >> And people are accessible here. They're open. >> They're open. >> They're very friendly. But it's kind of, I won't say no, it's kind of no nonsense in the sense of people just want, get to the point. Right? But it's not in your face like a East Coast New York kind of thing. >> Well, we're not there yet. (John laughing) Give us time. >> All right, so back to the access to capital concept because I think first of all, we're going to open up our doors >> Yes. >> With theCUBE in Silicon Valley for you guys. So very impressive. Consider that an open invitation. But now you're talking about networks. As you built community outside of Bahrain, what are some of the things that you guys are trying to do? What does the research say to do? Is it, is there regions that you see that you need to connect through? Obviously, you want to build some communications with other groups. What's the data show for you guys? What's the sequence of execution? >> So I think what we need to do is we really need to focus on the partners that we have and enhance that relationship. But also we need to look a little bit deeper. So I think India and China are areas of interest for us as well because they are interested in this part of the world, and we need to improve our relationship with Silicon Valley. Not just giving them money. >> Yeah. >> Because everyone wants to give Silicon valley money. But we want to really learn-- >> Yeah. >> And understand what they have done, why it's worked there, why it doesn't work elsewhere, and apply some of those lessons here. >> And bring some collaborations, certainly. >> Absolutely. >> Well, people are leaving Silicon Valley and I know that most startups and growing companies have engineering teams all over the world so it's a global economy. >> Absolutely. >> Final question for you as we wrap up. What is going to attract, folks you are, or, let me rephrase that. What should companies know about Bahrain if they want to engage with you guys here and work with you, or domicile here and create a group here? >> Well first of all, they should know that they don't need to involve anyone else because they can come in and set up on their own. 100% foreign ownership is something that we have here. Where it's a very liberal economy. It's a great place to live. and that sounds facetious but it's actually really important because talent is the crucial component of every success for these companies. And people like to live here. People enjoy it. I think you'll find a welcoming environment. You'll find an environment where if you have an issue, you can raise it to the highest level very easily. >> Got it. >> And EDB is here to help with that. >> Well Tala, thank you coming on. >> Thank you. >> Tala Fakhro, Executive Director of the Bahrain Economic Development Board, the EDB. They have a website. You can engage them obviously doing great things. This is the calm before the storm. As Amazon Web Services Region gets up and running, we expect to see a lot of growth and unexpected things. >> Yeah. >> Unexpected, unintended consequences. Be careful what you wish for, Right? >> Well. >> I mean, it's coming. >> It's coming and we're waiting. >> Thanks for joining us. >> Thank you so much. >> I'm John Furrier with theCUBE. You can reach me at @furrier on Twitter. Bringing you all the action here in Bahrain for our exclusive coverage of the Amazon's new region in the area here in Bahrain and through the Middle East. Thanks for watching. Stay with us for more live coverage here at the Ritz Carlton for AWS summit in Bahrain 2018. We'll be right back. (bright music)

>> from Bahrain. It's the Q covering AWS Public sector Bahrain brought to you by Amazon Web service is >> Welcome back. It runs the cube coverage for Amazon whips were summoned by rain and Middle East jump for cloud computing. Our startup panel at two great guests. So, Abdullah, who's with Flat Labs? Flat? Six Labs Incubator Investor. Same dull bet with sink. Sorry. So sorry They got that wrong with little glare on my spring there. Thanks for coming on. Appreciate it. Guys, start up. Scene here is robust. Last year from this year, More energy, more deployed capital because you're deploying capital. You're building a company. Give us the update start. >> Yeah, I would say over the past year, just our Bahrain location alone. We've already hit 23 startups that we've invested in, and we're looking to increase that number by about 68 start ups every six months. Um, as you've seen over the past year and Amina region and the GCC, there's rapid growth in the startup scene. Um and we're slowly starting to see each vertical fill up with the relevant startups and get more saturated. I think for a while we were one of the regions that were a lot less saturated when it came to our local startup because systems and the rest of the world The good thing is, now that we've gotta love the financial infrastructure into place, flat six Labs is one of them. And I think that's where we really um, we're lacking support before on DSO were signed to feel see players come into every stage of the startup growth be ableto help the stops raise their seed funds. Siri's a Series B >> and your role here is outreach building out my rain. Yet where the Economic Development Board trying to figure out that put together an entrepreneur strategy and not figure it out. We know what it is. You get money? Yeah, yeah. Party together, >> Yes. So what we're trying to do is there's two main things. One is that we're trying Thio finally be the first kind of financial investor that can help people going from a full time job in tow. You know, full time entrepreneurship rolls on to give them access to three of the biggest barriers that they usually will face, which is a business development network mentorship on Capitol andan. Everything that we're doing is weed. So personally, What I take care of is that I go to a lot of the international events around the globe, would start up because systems and try and find very early stage founders and educate them on the market. The region see where people would fit, where the gaps are in the market on dumb kind of raise awareness of old advantages that we have here in Bahrain. >> What makes you guys different? What's the differentiation >> as a country or as flat six labs? Both. So I'd say, as a country behinds in a very unique position where we have, ah, cultural mindset that is very easy for a lot of foreigners and expatriates to adapt to, Um, I think we've even been ranked number one in the world as a place for expect us to live several times on DA number. Thing is that we have a very high skilled workforce. Um, overhead costs are lower. So, for example, when it comes to the cost of rent when it comes to hiring a team, you also have subsidies that come into place like Tom Keen, uh, which Sam has also benefited from where if you go and you hire fresh graduate Bahrainis, you'll get >> ah, >> large margin of that subsidized by the government. So you're looking at, ah, mix where you have a high quality of life. But at the same time, it's the best starting point for a lot of start ups. Because you can extend your runway. You have, ah, much lower cash burn, and at the same time you've got one of the biggest market places right next door, which is Saudi Arabia, is the 30 minute drive across the bridge. So we've kind of got the best of all worlds over here, and and because we're a small country, we have a government that's incredibly reactive. So the regulatory authorities are very close with the startup ecosystem, for example, were always involved in the economic development board round table meetings on the ministries, all working closely together to try and make this as friendly and atmosphere is possible for the startup >> and they're authentic. That's interesting and see government authentically aligning. >> Yeah, it's in the interest of entrepreneur, I would say. One thing we really have going on is it's really an nationwide initiative from the founders to the private entities and investors like us and to the governmental agencies where we all are really dedicated towards making this start up >> san talk about your company. What do you guys do and what's your situation? >> Right? So my company's name is sinking. We're software as a service company that helps businesses manage the really hard aspects of managing their employees like things like timesheets scheduling. Job safety is a big one for us and job costing, and our target market is actually us small businesses and way were early stage company, and we met Salar and Flat six Labs, and they convinced us to come sit up here in Bahrain and never looked back. But the access to talent here is just amazing the cost of very low and were able to do a lot of a very small amount of money. And so far we've got to a total of four and 1/2 1000 U. S. Businesses using the platform. And we've done that all here from Bahrain, >> so very low, low cost leverage, a model, and that's because of the substance of just talent >> as a >> mixer, so it's a little bit cheaper to hire. People have more access to tell him it's a number of things. It's both of those things. >> Yeah, the university programs were interesting there. Got a degree in cloud Computing. They announced that we heard that news today. I mean, that's compelling. I mean, have you want to make the market just teach it? Yeah, exact. This is good, I think. >> I think the good thing is that everyone's come to an understanding that all parties have to get actively involved to make it the right atmosphere. So the universities are also working very closely with us hand in hand. And I've seen Percy a gigantic improvement over the past year where their senior projects of the universities are turning out where they got legitimate startup. It's Dex on Dhe. Some of them are even ready to go straight into acceleration, which was not the case a few years ago. So everybody's really on board. >> That's one of things we met last year in the economic Dillman for that round table. Lotte. I won't say complaints but concerns, and they're very listening to the whiteboards out their charts. How are they doing? Checking the boxes? They are checking the items off, moving these blockers and what's remaining in your mind in terms of things to make it frictionless. >> Yeah, I'd say like there's so far. We've done a great start andan the space of a year. We've accomplished a lot. But of course there's still shifting the whole mentality to understand the startup scene and also, you know, to get people to be less as, ah, cultural mentality, risk averse and start letting people feel that failure is an okay thing. It's okay to go straight out of university and give it a shot and try and start your own startup, Um, and also educating people of all the tools that are available to them. So although we do a lot of outreach and roadshows, still, there's, ah, a lot of people that need to be educated on how exploration works, how the VC side of it works. And I'd say another thing. We need Thio See coming is bridge funds. So we've got people that are ready to come in at Siri's a that precede that seed. But then there's usually these gaps where we need to kind of help Fila's well to keep people on target towards seriously >> like a bullpen. Capital kind of model. Like Paul Martinez Company? Yeah, sass coming that are in between being Air B or B and C just need that little bridge. Yeah, exactly. That. Just >> that extra runway so that they can hit the targets that the later stage investors want us. >> Guys, give it plug for your reference. What you working on? Now? What do you quit your to do? Item? What's, uh what's the plan? Give a pitch for the company. >> Looks way No. The first company to attack time tendons. And we won't be the last. But where we think that we can win his job costing and job tracking, which is something that the customers that we talked to it really screaming out, too. So we've been building a really complex but simple to use system for managing jobs the last 3 to 6 months, and we're about to deploy that to our users in a few weeks. We're very excited about that. And that's really our secret source. We just a lot of guys doing the time in attendance. We're doing it very well, but we want to be the best of jobs. And we also want to stay laser focused throughout our particular users, which is actually employers with 1 to 20 employees in the states. And that's actually that actually makes up 89% of all employers in the States. And it's very hard to historically to find these guys. But we'll be having a smart phone in their pocket. It's actually becoming easier and easier for us, and we find it. >> And those coming need the most help, too, because they're the ones that could grow to 50 employees next. Exactly. So what's the U. R L? Our website and app Tick and download. What's the head of someone contact U S. >> So they will go to sync dot business and they can use the Web version there. But we also have to mobile app so we could be found in the APP store and on the place. >> Awesome. Congratulations and updates for you guys. What's next for you here by rain in general? >> Well, in Bahrain and Demeanor Region, we're continuing to expand their several locations that we're gonna launch again as accelerator programs on dhe. Locally, over here, we're always accepting applications from international startups. We're actually having our demo day tomorrow So you should drop by if you're gonna be here. Yes. Did I would be great if you come down and a CZ that happens. We're accepting applications to the next cycle on dhe. They can just log onto flat six labs, bahrain dot com All the information's over there. And if they want to get in touch with me, they can just put my name into Lincoln. So >> I beat him up into a system, and when they're ready to accelerate, they go. Good to go. Congratulates. Good job, guys. Thanks for the update. Startup scene is robust here by rain. The Cube coverage for our second year covering Amazon Web service is summit. I'm Jumper Stevens for more coverage after this short break.

>> From Bahrain, it's the Cube. Covering AWS Public Sector Bahrain. Brought to you by, Amazon Web Services. >> Welcome back to the Cube coverage here in Bahrain, the Middle East, with AWS Summit celebrating the opening of their new region and all the economic development going on around it. A lot of change, cloud computing changing the landscape for startups, businesses, and the government for Cloud First. Mohamed Khalifa, senior manager, Economic Development Board for ICT. Welcome to the Cube, good to see you. >> John, it's a pleasure to see you again, and be here on the Cube with you all. >> You know, we're excited, second year the Cube's been here. What a stark contrast. Now, it's not just talk of the Amazon region being open, it's operational, startup scene is more dynamic, you guys are a big anchor in all of this. >> Absolutely. >> Give us the update. >> So, in the last year, the startup scene in Bahrain has grown by about 100% of where it previously was. Part of that's driven by the fact that Amazon is here, and the region is changing as a whole. You have Microsoft and Google and other companies all realizing the potential in this region. That's driven by the fact that there's a 40% year on year growth in cloud businesses, and uptake of those businesses as well. So, the talent pool as a result, is increasing in scope, and people are popping out of these companies and government ministries, and are energized to now start their own businesses. Aside to that, what you've started to see in Bahrain and the region as a whole, is a firm interest in governments in introducing regulations that are meaningful to these companies. Now, the way the governments work in these regions, especially in a country as small as Bahrain, is that we're able to legislate very fast on shore, and we're able to do that with a very close ear to the ground on what businesses need, and what they're requesting. So, it almost functions as a corporation and a enterprise that wants to do best for its subsidiary corporations. >> And you guys want to take care of the citizens as well, you guys listen to the societal impacts, the demographics a lot of young people. >> Absolutely. >> So the news around a cloud computing degree, bachelors degree, four years, or one years, that's going to help. >> Yeah. >> The entrepreneurial equation, you guys have been really the stewards of that. >> Mhmm. >> How is that going, is there any plans to have entrepreneurship being more formally taught in the universities, how do you guys think about the entrepreneurship equation? >> So, there are definitely thousands of people right now going through cloud training courses, because we see that as being the future. We ourselves, as a government, offer to make all of that training free. So, insofar as a person wants to attain a certification or a company wants to train one of their employees, that whole process is 100% free, granted by the governments of Bahrain. The reason why we do that, is because the human capital in the country, is seen as our single greatest asset, more so than anything else. We're not a heavy oil economy, oil is 17 and a half percent of GDP, financial services is similar level, tourism is a similar level, manufacturing is a similar level. So for us, if it's not oil, it's people. And people are what will generate everything in those subsectors that's relevant. So for us, the training programs that we're instituting with the universities, or the vocational training providers, et cetera, are all key to this. >> The insourcing strategy is something you're seeing that technology's enabling. I mean, we're seeing with corporations, they're building their own stacks. >> Yeah. >> They're building developers in house, you guys as a country saying, "hey, you know what, "we're not going to outsource to others, "we're going to build our sovereignty with the people." >> Yeah. >> This is about talent. >> Yeah. >> Now the younger generation, they want to move fast. (laughing) >> Yeah. >> They don't want anything passed down from the old guard, older folks like my age. >> Absolutely. >> They want speed, they want freedom to develop, and build something. This is kind of a cultural shift. >> Absolutely. >> What's your take on that? What's the sentiment around that culture, the younger generation, in terms of app developing technology and all them. >> Yeah, I mean, I think it's a bit split. You have a government that's very interested in insourcing. A lot of the private sector still does a lot of outsourcing. So, there's a happy middle between them. We try to make the visa policy quite straightforward for they guys that want to bring talent from abroad, where they can't fill that talent up locally. And there is a place for companies like Systems Integrators, et cetera, to fill those gaps up. But at the same time, insourcing remains key. As I mentioned, government is fully developing their own capability, and is primarily doing that by pulling students out of universities, and through those programs, and advising universities on what those programs should look like, to make sure that there's a match, and a synergy, between where we see the future of technology and the future of the services we're building with, you know, what the youth are learning. And the reason I talk about government, and it's typically not nice to talk about government as a fast mover, but in this part of the world, government tends to move faster than business when it comes down to innovation. >> Yeah. >> It's just, it's a weird flip that's happened between what you see in parts of the west, and what you see in this part of the world. So, what the changes that we make on the government side. >> Mhmm. >> End up being flags that indicate to the private sector some of the changes they're going to start seeing. >> So, that's the regulate fast piece. >> Yeah. >> So moving fast, set the pace for business, but not meddle in the startups world. >> Absolutely. >> We had a good chat with the central bank. >> Yeah. >> Same thing, they did some quick things, they got a sandbox, they do quick certifications. So I got to ask you the next question, startups. Nurturing them, attracting them, getting people excited by them, any new plans? You guys have any new programs? >> Yeah. So, right now, we've made the cloud crediting for businesses that are setting up in Bahrain, up to a certain cap, 100% free for them to use cloud credits on any cloud hosting provider basing operations in Bahrain. So, the reason we do that, is because we think, we already have a series of incentives, that already pay up to 50% of their capex and opex, we just increased the cloud side because it actually made more financial sense for us as a government. >> Yeah. >> And it drove innovation across these sectors and these industries. Aside from that, and aside from the capacity building, we've changed a series of laws, that resolve a couple of things. One is, the safety of investors in these companies, and the safety of their founders. Which include things like, including chapter 11 protection under the law, introducing laws against anti-competitive behavior at the governments level, and a few other sectors. But the more interesting thing for me, aside from those, I mean, that's obvious, right? >> Yeah. >> You want to help people fail, and you want to help remove friction from the investment environment, and you want people to build up capacity in training. But aside from that, the more interesting things that we're doing around open banking, APIs, so we're the first country in the region that has now set up a process for opening up all our banks APIs. That basically means at an infrastructure level, financial services companies can now build on top of banks, and create value added services. It's the same thing with the government, where the governments has now started building API bridges, using Amazon, and I'll give you one example of the first value added product that's come out of that. We've just released a product called EKYC, electronic KYC, entirely built out on the block chain, it's the first of its kind, globally. And in real terms, what that does, is it lowers the lifetime costs of doing electronic KYC from about $8,000 to a per-transaction cost of about $2 per transaction. So, it's a real meaningful difference for these companies, and the reason why you could deploy something like that so quickly and so effectively is because of the fact that the governments building on APIs and opening up some of that infrastructure, and the central bank is asking banks to do so as well. >> API standards, money, software innovation, kind of interesting fintech innovation strategy. >> Yeah. >> Kind of a data control plane, but the banks are protected, 'cause they're just exposing APIs. >> Yeah. >> Entrepreneurs can innovate right custom applications. >> Absolutely. >> Is that the thinking? >> Absolutely, so that combined with the fintech sandbox, which I think the central MAT bank must have talked you about. >> Yeah, it's phenomenal. >> Allows us to kind of regulate the licensing of the fintech products. So, it's safe for consumers, and it's safe for banks as well. Along side the fact that we're opening up the technical layer of the banks into these companies. >> You know, I think they got that right, I think you guys have a great collaboration equation, balancing regulatory and innovation. And the startups are going to take advantage of that. When the region's up and running, which it is, and starts humming along, you're going to start to see a flywheel of startups. >> Absolutely. >> The question that is on my mind, that I'd love to get your thoughts on is, the ecosystem support, because you said trust, and you guys have telegraphed and postured very trustfully as a country. >> Yeah. >> To entrepreneurs, that's clear. Can that ecosystem get localized? The service providers, the law firms, the angel investors, you know, the stakeholders that are always around. 'Cause people got to fall and they got to fail. >> Yeah. >> But they got to get back up again. They need that system of nurturing. >> Yeah. >> What's your take on all-- >> We spent a lot of time, my role as an economic developing board, is very much focused around keeping our ears close to the ground with respect to companies. And we listen to what both younger companies and smaller companies and large companies need. And the way we've looked at it, is why try to legislate along the lines of the fastest growing, most innovative companies, which tend to be these startups and SMEs in the country. And we tend to work, our role, is really what we call team Bahrain, and that strategy is to nurture a combination of all the regulators, >> Uh-huh. >> All the universities, all the schools, every single player, all the private sector players, students, into a collectivized understanding of where we want to go. And based on that, we constantly have an ongoing conversation with everybody, including the VCs about how we can meaningfully make impacts. >> Yeah. >> So just on the VC point, we recently set up and will have fund to funds, which is $100 million fund of funds, it puts money directly into venture capital funds, which then can redeploy that investment back into startups. The only request that we typically have for that fund, is that they set up a presence in Bahrain. In so far as they're going to receive capital. What that means is that there's going to be a critical mass in the country of venture capital funds that are now closer to those startups, and in a direct conversation with every part of society, whether it is government regulation all the way down to private sector. >> So you got some capital enablement there. >> Absolutely. >> That's awesome. >> We'll see about the capital markets, and you guys some developments goin' on there. >> Yeah. >> Final question I want to get your thoughts. From last year to this year, in looking forward, Mohamed, what are you most excited about right now? >> I'm excited about a whole lot. >> Come on, give me the top two, top three. >> So, the top three, there's stuff I can't talk about to be honest. >> Oh come on! (laughing) >> And you're going to see it come out in the next month. So there's stuff that's going to come out with respect to capital markets, and simplifying the investment. >> Yeah. >> Removing friction from the investment environment, and introducing greater amounts of volume. The other thing that I'm very excited about continues to be the capacity building that we're doing in universities with the AWS Educate program, that's continuing to expand in Bahrain. >> Mhmm. >> As well as other programs beyond AWS Educate, run by companies like Microsoft, >> Mhmm. >> Google with their development program. So there's a lot of fantastic capacity building work going on. And then I would also say, it's back to what I was saying earlier, it's just excited to see what companies are going to start building as we're opening up the infrastructure. We're working very closely with them and the regulators to make sure that as they build on top, they're not stopped by regulation, that the regulation constantly understands what they're trying to achieve. >> I like what you talk about, you got an ear to the ground, you're listening to what's going on in the marketplace, it's going to be, I think a lot of software surprises are going to come. >> Absolutely. >> You're going to start to see some, you know, what look like weird ideas turn into the best thing. Who would have thought that Airbnb would be successful. >> Yeah. >> Their original business plan was putting cots on the ground and selling cereal. >> Yeah. >> Now, they've changed the hotel industry. We're looking forward to seeing you guys do a great job, and we appreciate you supporting the Cube, to come here, it's awesome. >> Thanks for having me. >> And we hope to have the Cube in Bahrain next year as the team, covering you guys, and documenting what's going on. >> We look forward to continue to work with the team. >> Well, thank you very much, the Cube coverage at AWS Summit, Bahrain, I'm John Furrier, thanks for watching. Be back with more coverage after this short break. (upbeat music)

(upbeat techno music) >> Live from Bahrain, it's theCUBE. Covering AWS Summit Bahrain. Brought to you by Amazon Web Services. >> Okay welcome back everyone, we are here in Bahrain for exclusive coverage for AWS Summit, part of Amazon's new region being launched here in the Middle East. I'm John Furrier, your host, we have two great guests from C5 Accelerator in Washington D.C., now kicking it out in Bahrain. Hadyah Fathalla, executive director C5 Accelerate and Eva Dimitriadis, good to see you again. >> Thank you. >> Chief operating officer. >> Great to be here. >> Guys, congratulations. Bahrain, D.C. >> The world. >> The world, it's global. >> Thank you, yeah. >> C5 Global. >> It's great to be here. >> It's an exciting time. I mean, I got to ask you Eva, because we had previously met, talked about interviews in D.C. Smart people that known Amazon, because Teresa and Andy Jassy and Jeff Bezos always say, "We're going to be misunderstood for a while." Come on, that's not true. (laughing) A region in this area is going to explode the entrepreneurial scene. What's your take? >> I think that's absolutely true. As we see today at the Summit, there's just such a growing number of entrepreneurs and people who are excited to embrace digital innovation. Three years ago I think the story would have been different but ever since we set up the accelerator here, which was the first once in Bahrain, we've just seen an explosion of interest and not just from Bahrain but from around the GCC. Even start ups from abroad coming and setting up here as their Middle East practice. >> Talk about C5 for a second. Let's take a minute, to explain what you guys do. I jumped ahead a little bit because I'm excited because I just love the entrepreneurial energy. This is a really important thing happening and you guys are playing a role. Talk about C5 Accelerate, what are you guys doin'? What's your business model? Just take a minute to explain as a set up. >> So I'll let Eva talk maybe more about our global operations but really C5 Accelerate a few years ago, branch the business which was largely an investment business, including innovation business and we built Bahrain's first and one the regions, in fact, first cloud enabled accelerators and Bahrain's very first technology accelerator and we did that in partnership with the Economic Development Board, the labor firm Tamkeen and obviously with AWS. Really we benefited from the first mover advantage and the thinking around that was that as Amazon grows it's geographic footprint there is great opportunity to build on the cloud in places like the Middle East where the ecosystem is nascent and there is an amazing first mover advantage. >> Yeah. >> So when we partnered with the government to build this, we realized as we do that, we also need to contribute to building a healthy ecosystem so we built this first accelerator and we have felt-- >> When was that, by the way? >> 2016. >> Great, thank you. >> Actually September marks our two year. We've since graduated five cohorts. We're gearing up for six and we have 34 start ups under our belt. Our first cohort was an all Bahraini cohort and today we're very proud to say that actually half of the start ups that have graduated from this program that is based out of Bahrain are international start ups. That's what we're doing locally. Maybe Eva can tell you a little bit more about what we're doing on a global scale. >> You know and that's important. I want to make sure you got that out about having a bunch of start ups under your belt because when I went to the start up Bahrain session yesterday I was really, really impressed by two things. One is, just the smart energy, the smart people who like understand entrepreneurship. Either went to school for it or have learned through the scar tissue of trial and tribulations like myself. And then the entrepreneurs were there themselves. >> Mm-hmm. >> And you know a healthy entrepreneurial community when they start bitchin' and moanin', they're all chirping away, they're hungry. There's a hungry appetite for entrepreneurship here and creating but it's not fake entrepreneurship. They're really hungry. They're, where's the cash? Where's the capital? So this is really a positive sign. >> It is and I want to add something really quick before Eva jumps in, I think in the past two years what's great about a small ecosystem and the ability to pivot and build fast is you actually see the impact that you can have as an individual and as a company and as a community really on the landscape. But also regionally we've had great collaborative efforts across the GCC and in the region with partners in Saudi and Kuwait and Egypt and in Jordan so I think there's a lot of momentum that we're riding on now, and I think it's a great time to be building in the tech space. >> Well Eva, before you get to your comments. I just want to follow up on the comment around Saudi and different regions because this is a trend that has been happening for a while in Silicon Valley, as you know. People have been leaving Silicon Valley, because it's cost to live there, but people have been putting engineering teams outside of Silicon Valley. I mean, 20 years ago, you only went outside of Silicon Valley or the US to outsource which is not really product development, it's just coding. Then the trend became real engineering and product development, real chops outside. We just had Abdul on from Saudi and he was talking about his shape of his team, the psychology, the make up of the people, it's just not in Saudi Arabia. It's in China, it's all over the world. As developers are working across the world, this is a really big deal. I mean this is the new dynamic. >> Yep. >> Diverse teams, geo located, no borders, this is going to change the political landscape. It's a cultural shift. >> Definitely, I mean I think it's a while before we have here the same secret sauce that exists in Silicon Valley or that has existed there for the past decade or so. But the emphasis on training and upscaling is huge and as we've heard a number of times today, there are so many incentives to do so for free so you can actually learn to code, you can become a certified AWS coder for free in Bahrain. Which is a phenomenal advantage and step up. I mean, no one would pay me to do that in the UK. I think that, along with a number of other initiatives are really going to leap frog the development here. And in terms of what you talk about, the sort of the landscape and geo location, it goes in so many different directions now. There's no single focus so we had a Swiss company last year come and incorporate in Bahrain, and hire developers here to grow their business. It can go in so many different directions. >> Yeah, the winner take all business model is an old business model and now it's everyone's winning so it's a little bit of flattening of the wealth and the opportunities but the pie is getting bigger. >> Yes. >> I think this is the dynamic that cloud and Amazon continues to demonstrate that the Oracles, for instance, of the world, we got to win it all, lock everyone in and we got to own it. That ethos is not, that dog's not hunting, as they say. This is changing the entrepreneurial landscape and the other thing I observe is the younger generation. Leveling up is very easy to them. It's like a video game, right? Leveling up is AI, blockchain, I think one of your companies I talked to, oh we're doing a blockchain implementation. They will eat up the cloud. >> Mm. >> I mean it's going to be like, pretty fast. >> You mentioned-- >> So I'm expecting some accelerated. >> Definitely. I mean you mentioned hungry but they're also fearless. The entrepreneurs that we work with have that perfect mix of a super smart idea and an understanding of a niche sector of the market but also this resilience and recklessness that you need to embrace the opportunity. And all the scary stuff that comes with it. >> And I think adding to that, I think what's great with Amazon coming to Bahrain, with us working across the globe, it's a cross pollination that happens because whether we like it or not, like Eva said, we are not Silicon Valley yet and maybe we don't aspire to be specifically Silicon Valley and we want to build our own unique ecosystem but the lessons learned from the likes of Silicon Valley and London and Singapore and China and everywhere else in the world. >> Yeah. >> Really helps build, not just the skills required but the grit that could otherwise be absent. >> The grit's key, yeah. >> And it can engender the kind of cultural shift that's necessary so you need, so you can develop these robust and resilient qualities that are necessary for a founder. >> Well, that's a really great point. I moved from the east coast in the US to California with my first start up because that's where the action was and I can tell ya, I've been there 20 years and I've been an entrepreneur doing things ever since. And there's a fallacy of trying to emulate Silicon Valley. Every i dotted, t crossed and trying to take the playbook. There's no direct match, however, there's some consistencies in there. That's grit, creativity, openness, capital markets and community and this is something that you guys kind of have in place. And then adapting that to your culture. Now I will say that my impression here is it feels a little bit Silicon Valley because it's a little bit more open and loose. People like to go fast. Fast and loose is the Silicon Valley way. Dubai's a little bit more like New York to me. So I can feel more, valley-like here. I'm not saying that Dubai's bad, I'm just saying it's different cultures. Bigger, its more ... >> There's definitely a lot of agility here. I think one of the other advantages which leads back into what C5 is as a whole, we're primarily an investment business. We have a venture capital fund based in the UK. What we're really looking for is investible, scalable business models where we're de risking the cost of capital with cloud computing because that is how ultimately these start ups scale. Another benefit that we really see in this market is value for money. If you're a start up in Silicon Valley and you get to the stage that some of our start ups get to when they finish their program, your valuation is pretty much always triple what we would see here, so valuation's a very sensitive subject. Our start ups hate talking about it. We structure our deals with them in a way that generally avoids having a valuation. >> It's very easy to do business here. You just keep on increasing the valuation, all the stars will come dropping to your doorstep. >> It's a nuanced area. >> Yeah. >> But that being said, you can get really good value for money businesses but more importantly you're investing in the teams and the entrepreneurs and there's no shortage of that here. >> Let's talk about the ecosystem here and then let's talk about the women in tech because one of the things that blew me away yesterday was Teresa Carlson held a women breakfast and for the first time I got kicked off a table because they wanted to make room for the workshop. >> Sorry about that. (laughing) >> I'm like, wait a minute. This is not an inclusive environment. Sorry, no, we need the table. Okay, I know, I was happy to tap out. But I wasn't expecting that and the energy and the, just really, again, this event, they had to lock the doors for the keynote so there's really a big interest across the board. Talk about the ecosystem and then the women in tech situation. >> So I think the ecosystem is an interesting question because, I mean, we work very collaboratively. Like I said, even though this initiative largely was kind of envisioned by the government and mainly by the Economic Development Board and I'm sure you got a chance to speak to Khalid Humaidan, he might have given you a bit of an idea of how this started off but really the EBD threw this idea of start up Bahrain to the community and said, "Look, you guys lead on it." And it took a little bit of time for the community to figure out what that really means and what it's going to look like but it really made the community and ourselves also think pragmatically about what we want this ecosystem to look like. So even though it's not as mature, like I said, as other ecosystems further away and especially in the west, it is coming together very nicely because it's coming together as a collaborative effort. You see a very good continuous consultative work between private sector, public sector, the start ups and then the other stakeholders, including ourselves, and academia. We still have a long way to go, I think specially in areas and this is something that I always emphasize, is to shift the culture you really need to start at a much younger age so at schools, at universities. We engage with them and are keen to do more on that front but I think we are laying the foundation for what I hope in the next five, 10 years will be a pretty competitive entrepreneurial and start up-- >> It might be sooner. >> Hopefully sooner. >> Yeah. >> I think we have the right recipe now to build a robust ecosystem. >> Yeah, I can say I can attest to that after what I saw yesterday. Your thoughts? >> Yeah I mean our team in Bahrain is 100% Bahraini. I'm based in London, but Hadyah here leads a phenomenal team who are all Bahraini citizens. Being the island that it is, we know everybody so Hadyah's done an excellent job of engaging with everyone from schools to universities to post grads to public sector, private sector. So really all the stakeholders in the ecosystem are engaged and everyone from the oil and gas industry to the finance sphere are thinking about how innovation can advance their businesses so that they don't get left behind at the train station. >> Yeah. >> It's really top of mind and top of agenda which is a very invigorating scenario. I think, going back to some of the initiatives, from bankruptcy laws to having a fintech bay with the Central Bank of Bahrain, there's just so much, like they're constantly pushing the envelope to make this a friendly environment for entrepreneurs to come and do business. >> And I want to add one thing. There's always this question of, does government have a role to drive innovation and create an ecosystem? >> They do. >> I think Bahrain is a good example for others in the region and even beyond to say actually government does have an important role. >> They do. >> If you look at Bahrain, it's government that has been very flexible and nimble in terms of moving to accommodate. Whether it's the new bankruptcy laws or allowing for the fintech sandbox and a cloud first policy and shaping the start up Bahrain. The government has taken the lead on a lot of these initiatives so it's a good example of how there can be a top down approach to building an entrepreneurial landscape but also where the bottom needs to come and meet the top so I think Bahrain a good example. >> Just to reiterate, my observation is that they know how to get things going and sponsor but they're also listening and self aware and even on theCUBE here, we heard comments like, we'll get out of the way. >> Mm-hmm. >> Now that's the difference between good judgment. >> Mm-hmm. >> You know? And, no, no I funded you, I own you, I mean I've seen that in the public sector or, we're going to fund you as an NGO and then I kind of own you so come to my receptions and be my show horse-- >> Mascot. >> Show all of my people how good I am, donating money. So there's a little bit of a balance between enabling. >> Yep. >> But at the end of the day, this is going to be a fast pace and that's where I think the speed, knowing when to get out of the way and letting the community go. I mean, people like speed here. Cars are driving fast, you got a Formula 1 race track up at 14 months. >> They like speed but sometimes things are surprisingly slow. >> Yes. >> So it's incredible that we are where we are. You asked about women in tech and I think there's something there that we're really proud of. C5 globally, 43% of the start up founders that we've supported through our accelerators are women. In terms of diversity, we're thrilled about that statistic. We'd like it be 50%. >> Yep. >> And I think that the Middle East, we're seeing so much hunger from women entrepreneurs and women who want to learn to code to be founders and we want to do everything in our power to enable that. >> Computer science degrees coming out of the university? >> Absolutely. Hadyah here had this fantastic idea a year ago to found what we call C5 Nebula. I'll let Hadyah talk about why we came up with that name and how it relates to our business but this is now a new stream of our business which really it's a membership platform where all women globally are invited to join and we provide education, upscaling, jogs, connectivity, mentorships and through this network we are allowing a complete globalization of the talent and skills that we have. >> Yeah. >> So you can be a student in D.C. wanting to come and volunteer to work for a company here and we will make that match happen. I think it's a very exciting phase for us and we've seen so much demand for this program. Maybe Hadyah can talk about why we came up with this name? >> Yeah, so like Eva said, we, I'm Bahraini, we've always had, we've been lucky to have been pioneering and have work very closely men and have had really equal opportunity but in industries like tech, globally, women's representation is lower than that of men and there are areas where there's still work to be done. >> A lot of work to be done, yeah. >> So last year, actually, with the first AWS Summit, when Teresa was out here, we figured we do a women in tech breakfast. When we were curating that guest list we couldn't find that many women and we didn't know if wasn't that we didn't know them or that they didn't exist and we realized really we need to put together something to bring all the women together and work more closely so we built Nebula, really to, like Eva said, do three things and a little more. One is the connectivity side of things and then the upscaling but also to raise awareness and appreciation. >> What is Nebula? >> What is? >> What is Nebula? >> So Nebula, scientifically it's an astrological, astronomical phenomenon-- >> But it's your network group, is that what it's called? >> It's a platform. >> Okay. >> So it's actually been officially launched three weeks ago, you can go online and visit it and it's a platform that allows you to become a member of Nebula and gives you access to mentorship, to opportunities to upscale and train but also to raise awareness and appreciation for the amazing opportunities for women in the tech space. >> Is there a URL? >> There is a URL, it's-- >> We've been debating what is is today. (laughing) >> It's www.c5nebula.com. >> Okay, I'll put it up, publish it with the video. >> And what it means, it's the Latin word for cloud and it's where stars are born. >> Yeah. It's also, what's important, is it's a compilation of a bunch of different clouds and electrons and it's a mess, it's a bit of a mess but it's a lot of forces working together and I guess the moral of the story is, we can create stars in the space but we all have to work together and it all has to come together to-- >> And it's powerful when you work together. >> Only 10% of VC funding worldwide goes to women founder companies and 1% of that goes to women of color so there's some staggering statistics there. Globally, this is not a Middle East problem, this is globally a real big area of disparity that we're trying to help address. >> Well you guys know our door's open in California and Boston, and certainly the women in tech, we got a big network, we can merge them into the Nebula connect our networks. >> We would love that. >> We would love that. >> We're open and anything you guys have to share with us we love co-creating with the communities, that's what we do at theCUBE. Thanks for coming on and sharing. >> Thanks for having us. >> Thank you, John. It's been a pleasure. >> You got a great mission. Big supporter. C5 Accelerate, they're the ones on the ground, making things happen, gettin' those sparks of entrepreneurship and helping them capture them into one community, create some energy and some momentum and help people create value and also capture the value, that's what it's all about here. You got Amazon Web Services' region in the Middle East, CUBE coverage continues after this short break. (upbeat techno music)

(upbeat electronic music) >> Live from Bahrain. It's theCUBE. Covering AWS summit Bahrain. Brought to you by Amazon Web Services. >> And welcome back to theCUBE's live coverage here in Bahrain for the exclusive coverage of the AWS's summit and their announcement and their execution of a new region which should be online here in early 2019. I'm John Furrier, your host with SiliconANGLE Media theCUBE, extracting the signal from the noise, meeting all the people. First time the Middle East and the region should be a big impact, having a digital footprint as size of Amazon Web Services, bringing energy and entrepreneurship and innovation and economic revitalization and enablement. We'd love the coverage, we meet a lot of great people. Our next guest is Simon Martin who's the ambassador of the British embassy here in Bahrain. Simon, welcome to theCUBE. >> Thanks. >> Thanks for joining us. >> My pleasure. >> So, OK, so I want, I want to just kind of get your perspective. I met the US ambassador yesterday the last night at dinner. He's kind of new to the area and the job. >> But he's already, >> You've got experience, >> But he's already well informed, I can tell you (laughs). >> He's well informed (laughs). Birth by fire, thrown in the deep end. You've been here for a few years. >> Yeah, three. >> Take a minute to talk about the environment here, because we're first time here. We're learning or observing. I'm certainly surprised. My daughter was asking me: What are the women like there? We had a women's breakfast yesterday. 70 plus people. The energy, the diversity, interesting culture. Feels like very open, what's your thoughts. >> Well, very much so, I mean, Bahrain has been at the sort of crossroads of international travel for hundreds and hundreds of years. The UK's relationship with Bahrain, the formal one, goes back just over 200. And that was all to do with trade. Manama means the place of sleep. And it was the place that people used to stop to rest on their way across the Arabian subcontinent and towards the Indian subcontinent, and so on. So, it's a place which is naturally welcoming of foreigners and outside ideas. And I think that's what Amazon have found here. So, there is an often lot of change going on in this part of the world. Bahrain is relatively small economy compared to its neighbors. It was the place that oil was first discovered in the Gulf, but, actually, once they discovered it, they realized that she had rather less than most of the neighbors and, therefore, it's an economy which has had to adapt to keep, keep growing. In contrast, >> Mainly, mainly the dependence on oil, other oil-rich areas. >> Yeah. >> Right, is that it? >> Yeah. So, that's been the main stay of the economy for some time, but there is not the, there is not yet the potential for the growth that's needed in order to help develop an economy with its, with the necessary modern infrastructure. A growing population, a need for, for quality employment for young people which is something that we've heard a lot of in the last few years. >> Talk about your history, how long have you been in the job you're in, what's the background, what are some of the things that you've done >> OK >> at the government in the UK. >> Yeah, well, Thank you, so I've been here for three years. Before that, I was working, actually, for His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. And in that role, visited this part of the world on a couple of occasions, and so, and so the impact of that very important part of our relationship, royal family's relationship with the royal families in this part of the Gulf, and it just opened my eyes a bit to the, to the importance of having multifaceted relationships. And, again, this is what we're now, this is what we are now seeing here, that Amazon Web Services with the cloud region that they are building here have brought a new dimension, >> (laughs) The fly got... >> Not surprised, to the Bahraini economy. >> So, tell me about the multifaceted piece of news. What I'm fascinated by is the Dubai dynamic, right. You know, I see Dubai, a lot of events there, Blockchain events, AI events, a lot of tech events. Feels like New York to me, using the American metaphor. It's kind of like a Silicon Valery kind of vibe. But they all work, been working together for years. What's the historical relationships, how have they changed, and how does cloud computing make up for that? How does that play into it? >> Well, of course there've been, it's been a very collaborative and yet competitive relationship between the different, particularly the finance centers of the Gulf for many years. The economic success story of Dubai is very well known. Bahrain has continued to develop, but without the resources that underpin the UAE success, has done so on a more, more progressive way. But this is always be, going to be a much smaller economy and Bahrain has to, has to compete in niches in which it has the competitive advantage. And it's this, what we have now happening here, is creating a wonderful new niche opportunity for Bahrain. But, of course, I don't think am letting out any secrets to say that each of the countries in the Gulf would love to have been hosting the new cloud region. >> Yeah. >> So Bahrain had try incredibly hard to present an environment in which to host this kind of, this kind of investment which requires regulation. It requires openness and ease of doing business and it also requires an openness to developing the labor force to support not only the Amazon, but all of the train of companies that we're expecting to invest along behind it. >> Well, Simon, I really appreciate your experience and candor here on theCUBE. Certainly, for us it's a new area and you have certainly a perspective for, for the Royal Family in the UK, and now being here. But one of the interesting things I'd like to get your perspective on is, you know, you look at globalization and you look at regulations, you look at digital, things like GDPR, you see all traditional things, you mean, you can go back when I was a young kid growing up, I remember the pound and the French franc and all the different currencies going on, and then EU comes together. And now you have Asia and cryptocurrency. So you have a whole another cloud computing generation coming where that might reimagine the political landscape, might imagine the economic relationships. These are opportunities, but also threats. And so how people handle it is interesting. So, how do you, when you look at that kind of dynamic, you got a little bit uncertainty and opportunity at the same time, depending how you look at it, it's the glass half full or the glass half empty. >> Exactly. >> How should executives and government officials start thinking about this new model, this new marketplace. London is certainly the center of the action and connects now into Bahrain, could be a different dynamic, frictionless, digital. >> Mhmm. >> People living across borders. These are new dynamics. What's your thoughts on this new melting pot of digital impact? >> Well, of course, everybody wants a piece of it, everybody wants to be at the center of a new melting pot. And for Bahrain, they're looking to be the of it within, within this region, but of course, the Dubai Finance Center and, you know, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait, and so on are also, are also very keen, and no one, no one is expecting to be the dominant player. And certainly from Bahrain's perspective, it's very much about creating the environment in which companies will see, this is a good place to start. The Gulf region is a coherent region with an incipient single market, and so on, within the GCC, and so, naturally, investors from the outside are going to look at one place to start. And so what Bahrain has done, and I think it's, it's been very well founded, it's just taken place over the three years that I've been here, it's to dramatically increase the ease of doing business, and then find proportionate ways in which the government can support new companies to get them established. So, you mentioned GDPR and, you know, how's this going to affect a company in the Gulf. Well, I was at the launch of a very interesting new big data software project by one of the, in fact British owned new startups in the FinTech Bay here which is supported by the Economic Development Board. They're starting point is that the product that we are selling out of Bahrain is GDPR compliant, which gives you an idea of the way, >> Yeah. >> in which even from, from this relatively small island in the Gulf, >> Yeah. >> the global perspective has been taken. >> And certainly with, you know, digital currency, the Know Your Customer Anti Money Laundering is the big thing too, you got to get that right. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> So, they have an opportunity with FinTech. Final question for you, as you look out and see the human capital market and the future of work. >> Yeah. >> It's a big conversation we're always having and certainly I live in Silicon Valley where everyone's, no secret that there's a migration out of Silicon Valley due to the prices of living there, but yet concentration of entrepreneurship. People are going to have engineering teams all over the world. so you have a disperse workforce now crossing borders and not just the domicile issue, that's one, you know, taxes, where to domicile, outside say the US or other countries. So, you have a combination of diverse workforces. >> Mhmm. >> This is big, this is a big opportunity too, challenge and opportunity. >> It is, it is. And, of course, there are not just big changes, now, there's constant fluctuation in the way the workforce and the populations in this part of the world and within the gulf are changing. Look at Vision 2030 in Saudi Arabia, the big increase in the Saudi workforce, both through the policy of Saudization and through the creation of many more opportunities for women in the workforce. That's affecting Bahrain. But Bahrain has always been a place where people come to work and sometimes to work remotely, sometimes to live here and work across in Saudi Arabia. So, the Bahrainis feel that they are very, very attuned to these challenges. But I might just mention as well that this is not just about economics. And what impresses me about the reform program you see going on here is that, the idea is that we will create a broader and wider spread opportunity, particularly through the opportunities for young professionals working in AWS, but also in the environment all the way around it, for all communities in Bahrain, not just the wealthy, not just the sort of Ivy league equivalent graduates. >> Yeah. >> And so that's why the academy that they're setting up here can, >> And then network does emerge in social networking is going to bring people closer together. >> Yeah. >> OK, great to have you on. Final question is, as people look at this moment in time, maybe an inflection point, shot heard around the Gulf, if you will, of Amazon, certainly they did this with CIA in our country, the said success is coming in, and kind of changing how things do, reimagining value creation and value capture. What do you see as the impact of the, a diverse region have been in this area and the geography? Just your thoughts on what the impact's going to be. >> Well, of course, this is a virtual world and a cloud region is the virtual concept, so it's easy to say, well it shouldn't take an Amazon Web Services cloud region to transform the way in which governments work here. In practice, what AWS have seen wherever they have established cloud regions, it's a magnet for other businesses to develop around it, and it provides the reassurance that governments need to take that step forward. I don't know whether you heard Max Peterson and his presentation this morning saying he was amazed at the speed with which the entire Bahraini government system has embraced the move to the cloud which, indeed, my own government is doing as we speak. And this, I think, is going to be one of the really big, the really big impacts which will allow governments to get smaller and more efficient and more transparent >> And serve their citizens in a different way, in a better way. >> But one last thing, John. Because, you may not have heard about this is, we're hearing a lot about the shift towards renewable energy in this part of the world, and people say, why on earth would we need renewable energy which is, you know, so much of the world's petrol carbon resources are based here, but, of course, if you don't burn them, you can sell them. And that's very simple economics. The fact is that it has taken longer than other parts of the world for the transition to renewable energy, even though we have so much sunshine and at times quite a lot of wind. The government here just put out a tender for a 100 megawatt solar farm. And the driving force behind that is because AWS have said: we want to power our cloud region from renewable energy. And this is an example of industry and the big investors actually applying a positive force to speed up the direction of the government policy already. And it's something that has been well. >> It's happened fast, this private partnership public relationship, that's a success story. >> And I think there are lots of other ways we will see this happening, as I say, you can't have over 2000 people here all focusing on the cloud technology without bringing an awful lot of extra attention to and focus on what else is going on in Bahrain. >> Yeah. >> From my perspective, the Bahrain government is saying we welcome, we welcome this, this publicity, and we look forward to explaining ourselves. And I think we'll see a lot of further development in this area. >> Simon that's a great point. Sustainable energy and the trade-off between industry, private industry trying to make money, but contributing technology and a co-creation with the government. >> Yeah. >> I mean, data center, it's hot here, you need cooling, you got sun power, you see, you got to have that solution. >> Absolutely, yeah. >> You can't burn it, you can sell it, so good opportunity. >> Yeah, yeah. >> Simon Martin, ambassador, the British ambassador to the embassy here in Bahrain. Thank yo for sharing your insights and color commentary. >> Pleasure to meet you, John. >> Appreciate it. Okay, live coverage here. I'm John Furrier with theCUBE bringing you all the new observations. Our first time in the Middle East region well coherent structure, great economics, great society benefits, cloud computing, Amazon Web Services region opening up in 2019. Exclusive coverage. Stay with us fore more after this short break. (upbeat electronic music)

>> Live from Bahrain. It's theCUBE. Covering AWS Summit, Bahrain. Brought to you by, Amazon Web Services. >> Hi everyone, welcome back to our live coverage here Bahrain. It's theCUBE's exclusive coverage, our first time here in the Middle East. This is exclusive coverage of Amazon Web Services Summit. I'm John Furrier your co-host of theCUBE. Our next guest is Dalal Buhejji, who is the Chair Person for the Women in FinTech Initiative, a big growing organization here and the role of technology is about to change in a big way as Amazon Web Services Region comes online in 2019. It should spawn massive amounts of innovation, education, connections, networks. Thanks for joining us, thanks for coming on. >> Thank you, thank you for inviting me. It's a pleasure. >> So, what a great opportunity you have. FinTech's is a strategic initiative for this country. It's one of their core competencies. They see FinTech. >> Absolutely. I mean, FinTech is definitely growing in Bahrain. There's definitely a shift towards Financial Services moving towards innovation and digitalization. And, you know, we've seen women participate quite heavily when it comes to FinTech in Bahrain. And that's not something that's new to Bahrain. We've seen women that are a part of the Financial Services Sector for many decades. >> Yeah. >> So naturally, if the Financial Services Sector will innovate. >> Yeah. >> Then women will be part of this move. >> And the women movement is phenomenal. We had a breakfast we attended with Teresa Carlson. >> Yeah. >> Yesterday morning. >> Yes. >> It was absolutely a packed house. I even got kicked out of my table because, >> I wanted to participate >> (laughing) but I'm happy to give my chair up. There's so many women there. >> Yeah. >> And some Coders mostly new to tech. But this professionalization of digital >> (agrees) >> is going to impact FinTech more than ever. Take a minute to explain about the group. >> Yeah. >> The mission, what you guys are trying to do. How many people are in? What's your aspiration? >> Sure, it's a very recent and new initiative. It's a Women in FinTech Bahrain. It's a network of Professional women that are in the Financial Services Sector or that have impacted or worked in the FinTech Ecosystem. So, it's anywhere from a woman that work in the Central Bank of Bahrain, Founders of FinTech companies, people such as me, who attract inward investment and try to attract companies to set up in Bahrain. But also accelerators and incubators. >> Yeah. >> And we gather together. >> Yeah. >> And we're like, you know what? There's a lot of women in this FinTech Ecosystem and I'm sure a lot of them want to also be part of it. So, why don't we build awareness, empower more women, invite more women to come and be part of the growth of the FinTech Ecosystem in Bahrain. >> And Teresa Carlson was sharing some of her personal experience yesterday. >> Yeah. >> Unfortunately we didn't have a camera. I got audio, I'm going to put it as a podcast cause I thought it was so compelling. She said you know there's different ways to connect in and the most important thing is to be networked. >> Yes. >> And have each other's back. >> Absolutely. >> And amplify and support each other. This is normal. This is what people do. >> Absolutely. >> This is important as the growth comes. >> Yes. >> There's going to be a massive amount of opportunity coming into Bahrain. >> Absolutely. >> Big time. >> Yes, I mean, you nailed it. Like the network is actually how it's started. So we used to attend a number of events. Like the AWS Summit that we are here in today. And you know it's a bunch of women that just, you know, just happen to be part of the FinTech Ecosystem. >> Yeah. And we're like hang on, we might, there be might more women that are part of this that we're not aware of. >> Yeah. >> So why don't we make it formal in a way and call it a network where we attend more events. >> Yeah. >> Promote it more. >> Try to invite more people to attend and be part of it. So you know, not to shy away as being a women to be part of the FinTech revolution in Bahrain. >> You now one of the thing is wanted to ask you because this is a big trend that we're seeing in the United States. >> Yeah. >> And around the world. And OpenSource Software set the trend for this, is that co-creation, makes you feel part of a shared experience. >> Absolutely. >> And content and creation together makes people feel part of something. >> Yes. >> But is also creates a network effect. >> Yes. >> Network effects are some of the most important dynamics of bringing people together. >> Yes. >> But also extracting value and creating value. >> Yes. I mean, you know, once we initiated this Women in FinTech. It was two months ago, and what we did, we did this amazing picture. We took all this picture of us together and we got so much publicity out of it. So one of my colleagues visited Innovate Finance in UK, which is headed by a woman, and she also have women in FinTech a group. And we're exploring what can we do to collaborate. >> Yeah. >> I got a phone call a week ago from a VC, a Venture Capitalist who happens to be run by a woman and it's all about women entrepreneurs that seed money into FinTech companies or Startup companies that are funded by women. So it's all about the network as you said. >> Yeah and what's beautiful is that when you have this collaboration. >> Yeah. >> The people who create the value are going to shepard the extraction and sharing of that value in a community way. >> Absolutely. >> It's a community. The community is critical. Not over playing the hand or over driving. You know what I'm saying? It's like. >> Yes. >> It's a balance between community formation. >> Which is very crucial for a sector that's in it's initial stages and growing quite significantly. So you know, Bahrain has always been a Financial Services Hub. What we've seen that the sector has been digitalizing and innovating. >> Yeah. >> The last two years. So it's quite new. And you know, you need to gain as much knowledge as you want and the only way to do it is to create a network. >> Well I'm so impressed with what you're doing. >> Thank you. >> I really think Dalal of course our door is always open in Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, we'll amplify your message. >> Thank you. >> It's super important. So what is your goals and objectives? Share to the folks out there who're watching who might want to get involved. What are your goals? What are some of your objectives that you're trying to achieve. >> Right now it's initial stages. We are there just to create more awareness of women involvement in Bahrain, when it comes to FinTech, and to invite more women to participate in the growth of the FinTech Ecosystem in Bahrain. >> But you are also not limiting it to Bahrain, it's also externally. >> Of course not. >> You mentioned UK. >> Correct. Correct. Ultimately we will grow even further and have Bahrain as a FinTech hub for the region so we welcome any collaboration across borders. >> You know we were just talking about John Wood, who's a Senior Entrepreneur. Been around the block, very successful. Partnering with Teresa and Amazon at a high level. And he said, you know, what you read in the paper in the news and the media and then you come to Bahrain it's different. The ground truth here, when you look at, when you're on the ground. >> Yeah. >> Meeting people, and seeing all of this action, it's a different truth. >> Yes. >> What would you say to the folks watching here, who might watch it now live or on demand, what is the ground truth here in Bahrain? What's happening? How are women becoming the power engine? What's in general and the over all ecosystem at large? What's the story? How would you explain the phenomenon that is Bahrain? >> If you look at it beyond FinTech and look at it beyond Financial services. The involvement of women in the Private Sector is quite phenomenal in Bahrain. >> Yeah. And it goes way beyond just a few years ago. It's decades of the women involvement. We have women at Cabinet. We have women in, leading good you know, financial institutions or corporates. So the involvement of women has always been prominent in Bahrain. And we welcome and want to see more of women go towards digitalization now. >> Yeah. >> And give them the right means to be able to achieve that. >> And one of the things that's interesting is that when you're not here on the ground, you might have some old history of what the role of women here. >> Yeah. >> My 21 year old daughter Jacqueline asked me and my 17 year old daughter Caroline said. They were curios, they just don't know. They're like: "What's it like to be a woman there?" What's it like to be a woman in Bahrain? It's a very comfortable and liberal place to live in. You know, education was introduced first for women in the GCC. You see a lot of woman participate in any cross-sectors within the Private Sector. It's a very friendly place to live in. You know, and it's a great to see how knowledgeable those women are. They are hungry for knowledge. >> Yeah. >> And very impressive characters, I must say. So, you know, it's something to be, definitely to monitor and to watch very closely. Tala Fahkro came on earlier. >> Yes. >> She's the Executive Director of the EDB, Economic Development Board here in Bahrain. >> Correct. >> She said it's a learning culture. >> It is, it is. >> And it's always been a learning culture. >> Absolutely. >> And always been open and liberal, if you will. But open minded. >> Exactly. I mean, see Bahrain has always been in a very unique position, that it was a trade-hub for many years. So it's welcomed people of different cultures. >> Yeah. >> Which opened that learning culture. We're very much receptive to understanding what people from India or China or the US have to do. So it's a very as, I totally agree with Tala Fahkro and I think it is definitely a learning culture. >> Well certainly our door's open in Silicon Valley. >> Thank you. >> Thanks for spending the time. >> Thank you. >> And good luck with your opportunity. And how do people engage with you? Just give the plug, talk about. Is there a site? Is there a Facebook page? >> Is there? What are you? How do you guys engage? How should someone engage and join? >> So your main. >> The Women in FinTech network? >> So yeah, we're working on a, you know, a page for people to reach out to us. But in the meantime you can reach out to me on my LinkedIn page or Twitter page. And you know, please watch this space cause it's growing. And I look forward to, you know, showcasing more of the events during. Well co-create, share content with us, we're open to seeing what you do. Thanks for coming on tehCUBE. >> Thank you. >> We are here in Bahrain. This is theCUBE coverage. I'm John Furrier. You can reach me at on Twitter @Furrier, LinkedIn, Facebook, Telegram. I'm all over the place. Easy to find. theCUBE of course here for the first time here in Bahrain in the Middle East. Exploring the creativity, the entrepreneurship and the impact of the Amazon Web Services new Region. Coming online in early 2019. Should be a tsunami of innovation activity. New networks. New people. We're meeting new people. Stay with us for more after this short break. (electronic music)