>> 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)