Doha: The Qatar Fintech Summit will open today and will gather C-suite executives, leading industry experts, policy makers and government officials from across the globe to discuss the current challenges, business opportunities, and market strategies that will shape the future of Fintech.
The virtual expo and summit will also provide the participants with networking opportunities with over 300 industry experts, decision makers, technologists, entrepreneurs, investors, academics and other market players across the Fintech ecosystem.
Qatar Central Bank’s (QCB) Executive Director Sheikh Khalid Saoud Al Thani will deliver the welcome note during the event, while other speakers will also include officials from the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Union of Arab Banks, JP Morgan, Bank of England (BoE), Doha Bank, HSBC, Mastercard, Al Jazeera Media Network, as well as founders of some of today’s fast growing Fintech companies such as Doha-based Spendwisor and Finterra from Kuala Lumpur among others.
The day-long event will also present product showcases, exhibitor virtual booths, panel discussions, and live webinars and forum discussions on Fintech.
Qatar, which is recognised with a significant ‘first-mover advantages’ to emerge as the region’s Fintech hub, has been ranked among top 10 countries in the Global Islamic Fintech Index. Qatar’s Islamic Fintech market is projected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 19.6 percent to reach $2bn by 2025, from $849m at the end of 2020.
The country is also seeing an accelerated growth in its Fintech startup industry. According to a KPMG report on “Tech Startup Investments Round Up in Middle East and Turkey”, there has been an increased activity in the number of tech startups including Fintech companies, gaining prominence in the Qatari market. The increased funding in the sector showed improved confidence in the market, it added. About $2.2m of Venture Capital funding has been raised for Qatari Fintech startups during the first half of 2021, while a total of $207.3m of funding was raised for the region’s Fintech and Banking startups.
The last few years has witnessed banks in Qatar embracing digital trends to achieve operational and cost efficiencies. Nearly every major bank in Qatar now offers an internet and mobile banking solution, and customer behaviours are rapidly shifting towards a need for more connectivity, self-service, and device diagnostic channels, noted Swiss Business Hub Middle East in its “Qatar’s Fintech Industry” report recently. The report added that along the rapid growth of Qatari Fintech services, cyber threats and attacks have significantly increased becoming a major challenge for the industry.
