Qatar Central Bank (QCB) on Tuesday launched the Qatar FinTech Strategy 2023 in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 objective of supporting diversification and innovation in the financial sector.
The strategy's launch came during a ceremony held on Tuesday at the Sheraton Grand Doha Resort and Convention Hotel, in the presence of QCB Governor HE Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al Thani, along with a number of dignitaries and officials in the country.
In his speech on the occasion, the QCB governor expressed his happiness for the launch of Qatar FinTech Strategy in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 objective of supporting the diversification and innovation in the financial sector and investing in a knowledge-based economy under the wise leadership of HH the Amir of State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
He said QCB's vision for financial technology is based on development, diversification, and increasing the competitiveness of the state of Qatar's financial technology and services sector through pioneer infrastructure, and providing solutions that positively affect customer experience.
He pointed out that the strategy is based on a comprehensive study of the financial technology sector globally, as well as the Qatari financial sector's foundations and the strengths of the national economy, creating a pioneering infrastructure for the financial technology market locally and globally, whilst ensuring the development of a comprehensive system for this sector, starting from the establishment of financial tech companies, all the way to mechanisms to enable them to grow and expand rapidly.
The QCB governor added that the strategy is based on four main axes: the establishment of a pioneering infrastructure including advanced regulatory rules and electronic platforms supporting the development of financial technology, prioritizing innovation and financial technology sector growth, especially Islamic financial technology and sustainable development, as well as insurance technology, empowering companies and enhancing their performance by using financial technology solutions, in addition to making Qatar a financial technology hub, aided by the country's leading educational infrastructure, and providing smooth mechanism and support for the transition towards cash-less transactions.
He referred to QCB's many distinguished initiatives in supporting the financial technology sector, such as the introduction of electronic wallets, instant payments and transfers, and supporting digital banking services by issuing the first local prepaid electronic payment card (Himyan).
He highlighted QCB's strengthening of the role of regulatory oversight and supervising financial technology, in addition to QCB's eagerness to strengthen cooperation with other agencies and institutions operating in Qatar.
He further explained that QCB seeks to implement FinTech Strategy by setting regulations for digital banking services, crowd-funding, open banking services, insurance technologies, and various emerging technologies such as cloud services and digital customer experience, through several initiatives to be implemented in three phases, saying that he looks forward to cooperating with all relevant parties to implement Fintech and achieve its outcomes.
