As peace breaks out, can fintech be far behind?

The United Arab Emirates and Israel signed the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement: Treaty of Peace, Diplomatic Relations, and Full Normalisation in September. The momentous agreement signaled a new era of peace and cooperation between the UAE and Israel. On Monday, there was news of another landmark agreement, this time between DIFC FinTech Hive, the largest financial technology hub in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) region, part of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Israel’s FinTech-Aviv. (THEFINTECHTIMES)

DIFC Fintech Hive

The DIFC is MEASA’s number one FinTech hub and one of the world’s top 10 FinTech hubs. Since its launch in 2017, the DIFC’s FinTech Hive has achieved a reputation as a leading innovation center.

More than 50% of all FinTech businesses in the GCC now operate from DIFC.

Meanwhile, Fintech Aviv (The Israeli FinTech Association) serves the needs of the Israeli FinTech ecosystem. It is a community of 30,000 fintech members.

The agreement between the DIFC FinTech Hive and Fintech Aviv will enable DIFC to support the UAE in facilitating economic growth from the technology and innovation sectors.

Both parties will work together on events, knowledge sharing, talent development, and facilitating mutual introductions and referrals for firms keen to expand in each respective jurisdiction.

“Like Dubai, Israel is well regarded for its approach to innovation and embracing FinTech so it is important to collaborate now to share knowledge and develop the sector further,” said Raja Al Mazrouei, Executive Vice President of DIFC FinTech Hive. “We are pleased to have partnered with FinTech-Aviv as we can achieve great things together. DIFC is now home to more than 240 FinTech related firms and the opportunities for growth are endless.”

“In this unprecedented time of reaching out to promote peace in the middle east, we’re honored to initiate this unique collaboration to facilitate the export of Israeli technologies to new markets,” said Nir Netzer, the Chairman of FinTech-Aviv. “The FinTech-Aviv community and its 30,000+ Israeli and worldwide members, proudly hold the torch of this exciting initiative and are humbled to be leading Israeli FinTech companies towards the exploration of new horizons with our new business partners.”

The Middle East is stepping up its focus on fintech

Concurrently, Saudi Arabia’s  Fintech Saudi and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) are holding Fintech Tour 20. It is a virtual event being held from 29th November – 10 December 2020.

It is said to be the Middle East region’s largest cluster of fintech events.

The event shows off Saudi Arabia’s efforts to pivot from its traditional reliance on oil to new sectors and technologies such as Fintech and AI.

Related Story:   Saudi Arabia Hosts Fintech Tour 20  

Feature Image:  DIFC Gate Building (Credit Dubai International Financial Centre)