Dubai - Mubasher: Al Salam Bank – Bahrain has partnered with Chinese venture capital firm MSA Capital to launch $50 million venture capital fund.

The new fund, Al Salam-MSA Bahrain Fund (MEC Ventures), will focus on investment opportunities that utilise Chinese technologies and business models in the Middle East and North Africa region, according to a bourse statement released on Wednesday.

“Al Salam Bank-Bahrain is uniquely positioned to provide regional access to capital and investment opportunities in the ever-growing MENA market complementing MSA’s deep industry expertise,” group CEO at Al Salam Bank-Bahrain Rafik Nayed said.

MEC Ventures will be the first investment limited partnership to be established under Bahrain’s new Investment Limited Partnerships Law

“We believe that the MENA region is nearing an inflexion point that can be accelerated through the adoption of Chinese-inspired mobile-first business models. We are proud to partner with Al Salam Bank-Bahrain to establish MEC Ventures,” managing partner at MSA Capital Ben Harburg commented.

MEC Ventures’ investments will cover a variety of sectors, including eCommerce, FinTech, big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, logistics, and networking systems.