The first joint conference between bank officials in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) started here today. The conference is organized by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) in cooperation with the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates. The conference was inaugurated in the presence of the Governor of Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority , Dr. Ahmed Abdulkarim Alkholifey, UAE Central Bank Governor Mubarak Rashed AlMansoori, and with the participation of several experts and interested parties from both countries. The conference is considered an opportunity for bank officials from both countries to discuss and identify key challenges and opportunities in areas with international importance and impact on the banking sector. The Governor of SAMA said that the Kingdom is the fourth largest trading partner of the United Arab Emirates in the world, and the first in the Gulf and the Arab region, where remittances to the UAE during the first six months of 2019 amounted to about 71 billion riyals, while the value of remittances received during the same period amounted to 20 billion riyals. The conference highlighted the most critical challenges and opportunities facing the banking sector in both countries in the fields of cybersecurity, financial awareness and financial technology, and supporting small and medium enterprises.
