Dr. Farid participates in UAB’s Conference
15/11/2020
Executive Chairman of
The Egyptian Exchange (EGX), Dr. Mohamed Farid Saleh, participated in the
conference "The Banking Industry and The Future of Financial
Services" that took place in Sharm ElSheikh, Egypt from 13-14 November
2020. The conference is organized by the
Union of Arab Banks and the Federation of Egyptian Banks, and attended by the
leaders of Arab and Egyptian banking and non-banking sectors.
In his opening speech,
Dr. Farid stressed the importance of cooperation in uniting the efforts of
leaders of the banking and non-banking sectors to accelerate the integration of
financial technology and the role of increasing financial inclusion and digital
transformation and thus increasing savings and investing rates.
He emphasized the
importance of coordination in light of the recent changes imposed by the Corona
pandemic, which urges us to discuss how to deepen the cooperation between the
banking and non-banking sectors, in order to support the objectives of the
economic and social development plans of our Arab nation, especially in matters
related to financial technology, integrating in the future plans for the
development of the financial industry. He also pointed out that the Arab
economies suffer from the low savings rates necessary to finance investments
and achieve strong economic growth, where financing gaps are putting pressure
on budgets.
According to World
Bank, Egypt's savings rate was 9.4% in 2019, while the investment rate reached
19.4%, with an estimated 10% gap. The
Arab world recorded a funding gap of 9.2%; 6.9% in Algeria 6.9%, and 20.3% in
Lebanon, recording the highest among Arab countries. In 2018, Jordan also
recorded a gap of 19.1%, all because of the weakness in savings rates compared
to the required investment rates.
During the conference,
Dr. Mohammed Farid, Chairman of the Federation of Arab Exchanges and Mr.
Mohammed Al-Etribi, Chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Banks, witnessed the
signing of Memorandum of Understanding between the Arab Banking Union and The
Arab Federation of Exchanges for the development in matters related to
technological structure, and digital financial transformation, through the
launch of the "E-KYC" initiative, and designing training programs to develop
the capabilities of Arab Capital Markets.
The MoU was signed by Mr. Rami ElDokani- Secretary General of the Arab
Federation of Exchanges and Mr. Wessam Fatouh — Secretary General of the Union
of Arab Banks.