Louis Saha will join the speaker lineup at Fintech Forward 2026, a financial services forum taking place on 7-8 October 2026 at Exhibition World Bahrain under the theme "Finance in the Age of Intelligent Infrastructure." The former Premier League and France international footballer will take part in a fireside chat titled "From the Pitch to the Platform: Turning Experience into the Next Opportunity," examining how personal experience can reveal emerging gaps and support solutions with broad, lasting impact. Saha won the Champions League, two Premier League titles and a World Cup silver medal during a career that included Manchester United, Everton, Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur. He later founded KiiMasters, a technology venture focused on turning influence into measurable positive action, and AxisStars, a private networking platform valued at £4.3 billion that helps thousands of professional athletes pursue business, financial and career development opportunities. Hosted by the Bahrain Economic Development Board and supported by the Central Bank of Bahrain, the Labour Fund (Tamkeen), Bahrain Tourism & Exhibition Authority and Bahrain Fintech Bay, the event is programmed by Forbes Middle East. Fintech Forward 2026 will bring together thought leaders, innovators, investors, policymakers and industry executives through keynote sessions, panels, fireside conversations, exhibitions and networking. Financial services accounted for 17.6% of Bahrain's GDP in 2025. The country says its fintech ecosystem is supported by more than 100 years as a regional financial hub, sector expertise, a collaborative business environment, forward-looking regulations and a skilled talent base. Bahrain was the first country in the region to introduce an onshore regulatory sandbox (controlled environment for testing financial innovations), open banking regulations, crypto-asset regulation and the GCC's first stablecoin framework (rules for digital tokens linked to stable values).