Israeli entrepreneur and high-tech investor Erel Margalit, founder and chairman of JVP and Margalit Startup City, was invited to visit Bahrain this week as a guest of the Bahrain Economic Development Board, the Bahrain Government's economic arm. During the four-day visit, Margalit met Bahraini Finance Minister Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa al Khalifa in what was the latter's first official meeting with a senior Israeli businessman since the Gulf state entered the Abraham Accords.
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Their meeting focused on promoting a new economic chapter in Bahrain-Israel relations based on innovation and technological entrepreneurship with an emphasis on fintech, cyber, food and media technologies.
In their meeting, the minister emphasized that he considered increasing cooperation between Israel and Bahrain as an important strategic step. He noted that Bahrain had a rapidly developing tech scene that was attracting young people to the fields of innovation and entrepreneurship.
"I am honored to be able to answer the invitation of the Bahraini government, led by Finance Minister H.E. Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa and the EBD to come to Bahrain to open a new economic chapter between the two countries based on high-tech and entrepreneurship. Bahrain has a central role in the economic growth of the region, and is a vital economic bridge for Israeli companies looking to develop partnerships in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the entire Gulf," Margalit said.
In addition to the meeting with the Minister of Finance, Margalit met with the economic-business leaders in Bahrain, including the heads of Bahrain's major banks, the National Bank of Bahrain, and Ila Bank, investment funds, communications and energy companies, and heads of Bahrain's leading universities including the Polytechnic University, and the American University of Bahrain. He also met with leaders in the local innovation industry and dozens of technological and social entrepreneurs.
