Minister of Finance H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, Minister of Commerce and Industry H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al Thani, Minister of Transport H E Jassim bin Saif bin Ahmed Al Sulaiti, Minister of Communications and Information Technology H E Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai, QCB Governor H E Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al Thani, and other officials and dignitaries during the Euromoney Qatar Conference held at Ritz Carlton Doha, yesterday. Pic: Amr Diab
The Qatar Central Bank (QCB) will launch a new fintech strategy during the fourth quarter (Q4) of the year, as part of the several measures being implemented by the central bank to promote a digital society and advanced financial environment in the country, QCB Governor H E Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al Thani said yesterday at the Euromoney Qatar Conference which was held under the patronage of the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani.
Co-hosted with the QCB, the event was also attended by the Minister of Finance H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, the Minister of Commerce and Industry H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al Thani, in addition to other officials, investment professionals, financiers, and economists.
Speaking about the QCB initiative to develop Qatar’s regulatory environment as the country moves towards becoming a regional leader in the field of digital banking services, the Central Bank Governor said: “As part of the current upgrade of the payment system software, a fully integrated payment platform will be implemented, with Centralised Infrastructure for nationwide real-time payment network. Qatar Central Bank will set the necessary infrastructure to enable banks to accept contactless payments from the digital wallets, and in this regard, we have worked on designing a new Fintech strategy which we are planning to launch by the 4th quarter of this year”.
In his keynote address during the event, the QCB Governor also highlighted that ‘Qatar’s economic activity today is much stronger than it was in 2020’ as the country occupies the position of the world’s leading LNG exporter. Economic prospects remain bright, amid recovery in domestic demand, private sector credit growth, as well as the preparations to host the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, he said.
