The two-day Dubai Fintech Summit organized by the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) was aligned with the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, with the aim of placing Dubai among the top four global financial centres.
The event was attended by 100 exhibitors and 120 speakers from over 50 countries. Here are some of the notable headlines from the summit.
Ripple is expanding its presence in Dubai
Ripple, the leading enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions firm, is expanding its presence in Dubai by opening a new office in the DIFC and bringing Swell Global 2023, its annual customer conference, to Dubai.
“We chose Dubai as both a key office for Ripple, and to bring Swell Global to the city, largely because of its forward-looking regulatory environment. Regulators here have taken on the challenge of establishing a framework that allows the local crypto industry to thrive, create jobs and increase economic growth, while ensuring that participants act responsibly, said Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple.
“Dubai plays an important role in shaping the world’s future economy. Demonstrating truly visionary leadership, the emirate has positioned itself as an exciting fintech hub embracing crypto and blockchain technologies to bring innovation and foreign investment into the space.”
Ripple spent $200 million to fight an SEC lawsuit, its CEO said at the Dubai Fintech Summit.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple in 2020, alleging that it illegally sold XRP cryptocurrency to investors without first registering it as a security.
Dubai: Global fintech hub
Dubai has reiterated that it will continue to strengthen its position as a global financial services destination and will remain a leading hub for fintech companies worldwide.
During the Dubai FinTech Summit, Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Deputy Prime Minister of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the UAE and President of the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), met the global leaders of the fintech industry.
Sheikh Maktoum met with Bill Winters, CEO, Standard Chartered PLC, Jenny Johnson, President and CEO Franklin Templeton; and Piyush Gupta, CEO Development Bank of Singapore (DBS).
“We discussed the future of FinTech and the innovation sector and established strong partnerships with the most prominent international institutions,” Sheikh Maktoum tweeted.
Singapore’s DBS plans Dubai expansion
DBS Group Holdings Ltd, Southeast Asia’s largest lender, plans to expand in Dubai.
“We are revising the thesis that there are real opportunities to do more things out of Dubai and this region,” CEO Piyush Gupta told Bloomberg at the Dubai FinTech Summit.
“I think Dubai is a really great place to be able to center activities from here, and we already do that for wealth management. You can do that for a lot of things [including] the East African Corridor, the Saudi Arabian Corridor and the Middle East Corridor,” The National quoted Gupta as saying.
Dubai economy
The UAE’s Minister of Economy, Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, explained Dubai’s position in the business cycle and how the emirate’s growth is expected to move forward.
“We had a fantastic year in 2022. The UAE economy grew by 7.6%. This year, growth of around 3.5% is expected. I think with all these challenges we want more than that. We have a CPI to double the economy in the next seven years, and when we do that, we need to reach 7% GDP growth every year, Al Marri said.
“The world today moves at a fast pace. Challenges will arise. The expectation that the UAE leadership has for Dubai more specifically is the more appetite for agility, the more appetite for anticipating challenges and the rapid speed at which regulations are moving in Dubai specifically anticipating future challenges,” he said.
(Writing by Seban Scaria; Editing by Daniel Luiz)
