With a decidedly global aim for public cloud domination, Amazon Web Services Inc. has been flexing its expansion muscles to all corners of the world, including the Middle East region. Bahrain, a tiny island kingdom, tapped AWS earlier this year to provide a cloud landing for its government agencies. From there, AWS is looking for business opportunities to expand and grow its presence in all of the Middle East.

While Bahrain was the first Middle Eastern country where oil was discovered, it soon found out its reserves were, compared to its neighbors, relatively small. As a result, Bahrain has an economy that has had to adapt to keep growing, according to Simon Martin CMG (pictured), british ambassador to Bahrain.

“Bahrain has to compete in niches in which it has the competitive advantage,” Martin said. “And what we have now happening here, is creating a wonderful new niche opportunity for Bahrain. I don’t think I 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.”

Martin spoke with John Furrier (@furrier), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the AWS Summit event in Bahrain. They discussed Bahrain’s traditionally welcoming history, as well as what new tech means to a young workforce. (* Disclosure below.)

Bahrain’s role as a ‘digital melting pot’

Bahrain has been at the crossroads of international travel for thousands of years, according to Martin. The name of its capital, Manama, means “the place of rest,” once known as a rest stop for travellers making their way across the Arabian subcontinent. Bahrain has had a formal relationship with the U.K. for just more than 200 years, primarily as a trade partner.

“[Bahrain is] a place which is naturally welcoming of foreigners and outside ideas. And I think that’s what Amazon [has] found here,” Martin said.

One of the recent technology projects of note is a large data software project named Bahrain FinTech Bay, supported by the Economic Development Board of Bahrain. It has been envisioned as a place to provide a “home base” for corporations and financial organizations. It is also complaint with the recent General Data Protection Regulations, making it ideal for any company seeking to do business in the EU and internationally.

Martin views economic opportunities as being much greater than just the immediate impact to the local economy; he thinks they will lead to larger opportunities for young Bahrain citizens.

“What impresses me about the reform program you see going on here is that … we will create a broader and wider-spread opportunity, particularly … for young professionals working in AWS … for all communities in Bahrain, not just the wealthy, not just the sort of Ivy league equivalent graduates,” Martin concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the AWS Summit Bahrain event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for AWS Summit Bahrain 2018. Neither Amazon Web Services Inc. and the Bahrain Economic Development Board, the event sponsors, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE