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.

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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.