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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Russia discussed financial, trade and investment cooperation. Thus Obaid bin Humaid al-Tayer, the Emirate's minister of state for financial affairs, held a virtual meeting with Anton Siluanov, the Russian finance minister, with a view to deepening collaboration between the two countries in financial matters.
Both ministers discussed bilateral relations between the two countries in the financial, trade and investment fields, but they also discussed the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) during the conclave.
Saeed Rashid al-Yateem, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Emirates' Resources and Budget Sector; Alexey Moiseev, Russian Deputy Finance Minister; and Timur Maksimov, Russian Deputy Finance Minister for International Relations and Foreign Markets, also attended the meeting.
Al-Tayer spoke of the Gulf country's interest in strengthening economic ties with Russia: "The Ministry of Finance is interested in strengthening the strategic partnership between the United Arab Emirates and Russia, through continuous dialogue and joint coordination in various fields of common interest, to create new areas of cooperation that will help promote economic growth between the two countries".
He thanked Russia for its cooperation and support regarding the participation of the UAE in the G20's GPFI programme in the coming years, as an external member of the G20, whose next summit is being organised by Saudi Arabia this November.
He said, in the words of state agency WAM, that the UAE's priority for participation in the GPFI is to address barriers to financial inclusion through technology and to implement the cross-border payment scheme, which includes remittances.
With regard to cooperation and partnership in the fields of trade and investment, both ministers discussed ways of facilitating tourism and the presence of Russian companies in the Emirates. Also discussed during the meeting was the completion by the UAE of the review process of the draft law to regulate the issuance and supply of cryptoactives, which was led by the UAE's financial market regulator, the Securities and Commodities Authority.
The UAE has established a dedicated FinTech team to facilitate the implementation of financial technology initiatives, including Initial Currency Offers. FinTech is becoming an important sector for the UAE, considering its important role in the local market.
In 2019, two emerging companies in the UAE raised nearly $210.5 million in token sales, representing almost 25% of total funds raised globally. The UAE has also developed a White Paper on Stablecoins, which sheds light on the importance of developing an agreed definition for Stablecoins and on the design principles for a successful monitoring framework for their implementation.
It was also noted that non-oil trade between the UAE and Russia grew by 8% during 2019, reaching $3.7 billion.
