ITFA MERC – Middle East Tradetech Adoption Group

As the trade finance market and supporting policies continue to evolve, the ITFA Middle East Regional Committee (MERC) have decided to facilitate collaboration amongst ITFA MERC members on specific market developments through a new “Middle East Tradetech Adoption Group”. This group aims to help banks involved in the Middle East progress on an agreed set of collaborative trade policies and digitization initiatives.

Given recent progress achieved on both fronts – MLETR and digital distribution – we have decided to scope our work around both ITFA flagship market initiatives, namely DNI Initiative and TFD Initiative. This effort aims to help banks in the region remain at the forefront of policy and technological developments and grasp the right business opportunities.

Naura Hussain, Chair of ITFA MERC, explains: “Due to an uptick in interest and a pressing need to drive engagement for digital adoption and related initiatives within the Middle East – we are launching the ITFA Middle East Tradetech Adoption Group together with André Casterman, Chair of ITFA Fintech Committee.”

Banks participating in the new group are expected to benefit through (1) discovery and educational sessions on policies and related technologies; (2) engagement in pilot transactions to develop collaborative use cases and (3) engage in advocacy on MLETR and use of digital assets in their respective jurisdictions.

 “The Middle East presents the right ingredients for success: policy makers have taken the lead on MLETR and digital assets whilst regional banks are continuously investing in innovative solutions to address corporate and SME needs.”, says André Casterman, Chair of ITFA Fintech Committee, “The new regional Tradetech Adoption Group aims to build on those foundations to accelerate effective implementations and demonstrate new value from advanced policies and technologies.”

The Middle East Tradetech Adoption Group will benefit from expertise and tools available at global level through members of the ITFA Fintech Committee (e.g., dDOC Manager).

In case of interest, please reach out to Naura Hussain, UBL (Naura_Hussain@ublint.com) or Ibrahim Chammat, SMBC UAE (ibrahim_chammat@ae.smbcgroup.com).