HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al-Abdullah Al-Thani, Minister of Commerce and Industry, said that the Qatari economy has achieved a growth rate of about 4 percent during the year 2022.
This came in a speech by His Excellency during his inauguration today of the Ninth Doha Conference on Islamic Finance, which will be held this year under the slogan “Islamic Finance and Web Challenges 3”.
He mentioned his happiness that the State of Qatar achieved an actual budget surplus of 89 billion riyals in 2022, and its occupation of the fifth largest market for Islamic finance in the world.
HE the Minister of Commerce and Industry considered the financial sector as one of the main pillars of the Qatari economy, given its quality and the size of its local assets, noting that it was able to overcome many regional and global crises.
HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al-Abdullah Al-Thani added that the pace of digital transformation has witnessed successive developments in light of the trend of major global economies towards accelerating the adoption of advanced technological solutions, adding "The Islamic financial technology sector is one of the most important sectors that have achieved significant expansion in the State of Qatar over the past years, as Doha is ranked among the top ten capitals for this sector in the OIC countries.".
He pointed out that the value of investments directed by the major global economies to the financial technology sector exceeded about $164 billion in the year 2022, in light of the competition of companies specialized in this field to adopt the best and most advanced digital programs, similar to the “Metaverse” technology, which is expected to revolutionize. Tremendous in view of the solutions it provides, which include applications of the third generation of the web or what is known as the decentralized Internet and blockchain technologies, which are one of the most important tools used in financial portfolio technology.
His Excellency considered that the ninth Doha Islamic Finance Conference is an important opportunity to highlight the approach that has been taken at the local and global levels, in order to adopt the best technical standards and regulatory controls to benefit from artificial intelligence solutions and advanced technologies in the field of financial technology and Islamic finance.
For his part, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dukhan Bank, confirmed that the conference, in which leaders and thinkers of Islamic finance meet, discusses the future and challenges of Islamic finance and banking.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank noted that financial technology today constitutes the most prominent direction for the transformation of the financial landscape in the world, due to the huge and rapidly developing capabilities that this technology contains that enable it to bring about a transformation in the financial markets and the financing environment. Banks have had positive results that have enhanced their presence, expansion and improved the quality of their services. However, there are challenges that may arise when the cooperation relationship turns into competition led by giant technology companies to enter financing operations, provide financial services and compete with the banking sector, which may lead to confusion in the work of banks and the financial and banking environment.
In turn, Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Conference, confirmed that the timing of the conference coincides with an overlapping scene suffering from economic imbalances and geopolitical turmoil, with which the central authorities and organizations are trying to control their repercussions according to traditional economic perceptions and ideas that require more innovation and modernization. On the other hand, the financial technology revolution and its developments come to compete with these economic systems from time to time, to draw their attention towards a new environmental system for the economy that is being marketed as an alternative to solving the dilemmas of the traditional economy.
Al-Sulaiti continued"In this context, the Doha Islamic Finance Conference seeks to highlight the role of Islamic finance and the visions it can provide to overcome problems and build structures under an Islamic economic system, through discussion sessions that bring together specialists from Sharia, law, economics, technology and industry practitioners, in which they enrich the topics of this conference, which We hope to come up with results and recommendations that contribute to strengthening the role of the Islamic financial industry".
And he indicated that the governing framework of Islamic law is not seen as a limitation of creativity and innovation, but is rather a safety valve to achieve justice and balance between the interests of human beings and the worlds and environments that surround them, and to ensure that the balance that God Almighty has placed on this earth is not tyrannical.
Participants in the conference discussed four main axes of Islamic finance in the world of metaverse, regulatory and supervisory technology in Islamic finance, cross-border finance and its impact on Islamic finance, in addition to sustainability in digital finance.
