The Bahrain economic development board has rolled out a new program that seeks to boost investment in the country by attracting new startups. These startups include crypto businesses, which the government has a special interest in.
According to an October 29 Press release, the investment promotion agency for the kingdom of Bahrain has introduced a fast-track program that will see start-ups looking to do business in the country get major boosts. The program will provide an expedited entry process covering visa requirements, residency, and business registration processes. The program also offers guidance from the country’s business incubators as well as access to financial support through grants and other instruments.
In its statement, the EDB sells Bahrain as a better place to do business than most of its neighbors and also lauds its open policy when it comes to crypto-currency and open-banking industries. The EDB stated
“The Kingdom’s pioneering, agile and flexible regulatory framework allows it to regulate emerging technologies – such as open banking and crypto-currencies – in a way other jurisdictions simply cannot. Thanks to this, Bahrain has earned a reputation as the region’s de facto test-bed for cutting edge technologies.”
The kingdom of Bahrain is not the only Middle Eastern country seeking to make a grand foray into crypto. Various other countries in the Middle-East are competing to become the leading tech hub of the area as economic regional authorities diversify their respective national economies beyond just Oil and gas. The need for diversification from hydrocarbons is also felt in the United Arab Emirates. The country has been pursuing development in Blockchain and artificial intelligence technologies. The country’s securities and commodities authority drafted a resolution on regulating crypto assets, which will purportedly provide more clarity for crypto-related projects in the country.
Dubai in its part introduced the Dubai Blockchain Strategy 2020. Dubai has its sights set on being the first Blockchain powered city by the end of the year. The department of economic development in Dubai announced its move to a Blockchain based unified business registry platform earlier last month, as part of the city’s Blockchain goals.
Bahrain set itself up to be ahead of the curve compared to its sister countries. This is after the central bank of Bahrain introduced a regulatory sandbox for Blockchain firms to experiment and develop new concepts without worrying about compliance issues back in February. That same month, Sharia compliant crypto exchange Rain became the first digital asset exchange to complete the sandbox.
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