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Saudi Arabia Gears Up to Become Middle East’s Fintech Hub

Within a few months, Riyadh became the second most attractive city in the region for fintech companies (AP)
Within a few months, Riyadh became the second most attractive city in the region for fintech companies (AP)
    Cairo - Ahmad Al-Ghamrawi
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Saudi Arabia Gears Up to Become Middle East’s Fintech Hub

Within a few months, Riyadh became the second most attractive city in the region for fintech companies (AP)
Within a few months, Riyadh became the second most attractive city in the region for fintech companies (AP)

Amid a fast-paced financial world, Saudi Arabia is emerging as a very bright spot for the future of the financial technology sector in the Middle East.

What makes the Kingdom a prominent home for financial technology in the region are several record achievements, foremost of which is the development of infrastructure to be ready for innovative products, and the issuance of legislation aimed at enabling companies and new technologies.

In May, the Saudi Cabinet approved the Kingdom’s financial technology strategy, a move that experts said would enable and activate modern means in the financial sector and attract local and foreign companies to work in an equipped infrastructure in the Kingdom.

The strategy comes as a new pillar within the Kingdom Vision 2030’s Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP).

Kingdom Vision 2030 seeks to develop the national economy, diversify sources of income, enable financial institutions to support the growth of the private sector, and open the way for new companies to provide financial services in Saudi Arabia.

Capital Market Authority (CMA) Chairman Mohammed Elkuwaiz clarified that the strategy supports all financial technology activities through transformation engines combined with initiatives that support service providers and develop the sector’s infrastructure.

The strategy comprises six key transformational drivers, which are: highlighting the Saudi identity globally, strengthening the regulatory framework, supporting the sector, developing human resources, advancing technical infrastructure, and enhancing cooperation at the local and global levels.

These transformational drivers include 11 initiatives, which will help strengthen Saudi Arabia's position globally in the field of fintech and support the kingdom's GDP by creating additional job and investment opportunities by 2030.

Fintech strategy was designed within the FSDP through collaborative efforts among the following entities: SAMA, CMA, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Ministry of Investment, the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (Monsha'at), and Fintech Saudi.

The shared vision of those entities is to achieve global competitiveness and make Saudi Arabia a fintech hub where technology-based innovation in financial services is the foundation for enhancing the economic empowerment of individuals and society.

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IMF Appoints First Mission Chief to Syria in 14 Years

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) police officer directs delegates as people arrive to the building during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) police officer directs delegates as people arrive to the building during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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IMF Appoints First Mission Chief to Syria in 14 Years

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) police officer directs delegates as people arrive to the building during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) police officer directs delegates as people arrive to the building during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The International Monetary Fund has appointed Ron van Rooden as head of its mission to Syria, Syria's Finance Minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh said in a written statement, making him the first country mission chief since war erupted there 14 years ago.
Bernieh said van Rooden's appointment came "following our request" and he shared a post on LinkedIn, showing himself shaking hands with van Rooden while attending the annual IMF-World Bank Spring meetings in Washington, D.C.
"This important appointment marks an important step and paves the way for constructive dialogue between the IMF and Syria, with the shared objective of advancing Syria's economic recovery and improving the well-being of the Syrian people," Bernieh wrote, according to Reuters.
The IMF press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A source familiar with the IMF's decisions on Syria confirmed van Rooden's appointment.
According to the IMF's website, Syria has had no transactions with the fund in the last 40 years. The last IMF mission trip to Syria was in late 2009, more than a year before protests against then-leader Bashar al-Assad erupted.
Assad's crackdown triggered a full-scale war that left much of the country destroyed before he was ousted in a lightning offensive by the opposition last December.
The new leaders have been keen to re-establish Syria's ties regionally and internationally, rebuild the country and secure the lifting of tough US sanctions to kickstart its economy.
Bernieh and Syria's central bank chief Abdelkader Husrieh are attending the annual spring meetings in Washington, the first time a high-level Syrian government team attends the meetings in at least two decades, and the first official visit by Syria's new authorities to the US since Assad's fall.
On Tuesday, the Saudi finance minister and the World Bank co-hosted a roundtable on Syria. Bernieh, in a separate LinkedIn post, described the roundtable as "very successful" and said there was "unprecedented" interest in supporting Syria's reconstruction.
A top official from the United Nations Development Program told Reuters last week the agency is planning to deliver $1.3 billion in support to Syria over the next three years.