Saudi Arabia, UAE Leaders Confirm Plans to Launch Digital Currency

Thursday, 28/11/2019 | 13:56 GMT by Arnab Shome
  • The project was officially unveiled earlier this year and named Aber.
Saudi Arabia, UAE Leaders Confirm Plans to Launch Digital Currency
Reuters

The leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) confirmed that the two countries would initiate the development of a digital currency.

Reported on Wednesday by TheNational.ae, the digital currency will be used for trading between banks in the two countries.

The agreement was signed between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, at the former’s latest visit in the UAE.

Crypto among major plans

The plan for digital currency is among the four new policy partnerships agreed by the two leaders, along with the decision to review seven strategic initiatives.

The plan also includes to jointly build a giant oil refinery with a capacity of 1.2 million barrels a day, and the countries also agreed to enhance cybersecurity measures between them.

The bank officials of both the countries are also scheduled for a meetup to discuss the challenges and opportunities in their financial sectors.

The confirmation for the development for the usage of the two countries was already expected as the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) central bank (UAECB) and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), earlier this year, announced their plans to bring an inter-bank digital currency.

“[...] studying the dimensions of modern technologies and their feasibility through practical application and the determination of their impact on the improvement and the reduction of remittances costs and the assessment of technical risks and how to deal with them,” the SAMA then stated.

Meanwhile, Blockchain companies are flocking towards the Middle East to tap the market, which has a high potential for growth. Earlier this year, Bithumb partnered with Nvelop to launch a crypto exchange in the UAE while Huobi recently entered the market with its white-label Cloud -based services.

The leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) confirmed that the two countries would initiate the development of a digital currency.

Reported on Wednesday by TheNational.ae, the digital currency will be used for trading between banks in the two countries.

The agreement was signed between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, at the former’s latest visit in the UAE.

Crypto among major plans

The plan for digital currency is among the four new policy partnerships agreed by the two leaders, along with the decision to review seven strategic initiatives.

The plan also includes to jointly build a giant oil refinery with a capacity of 1.2 million barrels a day, and the countries also agreed to enhance cybersecurity measures between them.

The bank officials of both the countries are also scheduled for a meetup to discuss the challenges and opportunities in their financial sectors.

The confirmation for the development for the usage of the two countries was already expected as the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) central bank (UAECB) and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), earlier this year, announced their plans to bring an inter-bank digital currency.

“[...] studying the dimensions of modern technologies and their feasibility through practical application and the determination of their impact on the improvement and the reduction of remittances costs and the assessment of technical risks and how to deal with them,” the SAMA then stated.

Meanwhile, Blockchain companies are flocking towards the Middle East to tap the market, which has a high potential for growth. Earlier this year, Bithumb partnered with Nvelop to launch a crypto exchange in the UAE while Huobi recently entered the market with its white-label Cloud -based services.

About the Author: Arnab Shome
Arnab Shome
  • 6571 Articles
  • 93 Followers
About the Author: Arnab Shome
Arnab is an electronics engineer-turned-financial editor. He entered the industry covering the cryptocurrency market for Finance Magnates and later expanded his reach to forex as well. He is passionate about the changing regulatory landscape on financial markets and keenly follows the disruptions in the industry with new-age technologies.
  • 6571 Articles
  • 93 Followers

More from the Author

CryptoCurrency

!"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|} !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}