During the activities of the first day

The Prime Minister of Egypt inaugurates the International Conference on Digital Economy Technologies “Seamless North Africa 2019” in the presence of the Governor of the Central Bank and representatives of the League of Arab States

The conference witnesses the participation of 9 Egyptian ministers, more than 1,400 international and local participants, and 150 experts and speakers from the most important specialists in the fields of financial technology, payments and e-commerce

His Excellency Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister of Egypt, inaugurated the International Conference on Digital Economy Technologies “Seamless North Africa 2019”, which he sponsored, where the Central Bank of Egypt hosted its activities – and will last for two days – for the second year in a row, in cooperation with the Council of Arab Economic Unity and the University of Arab countries, with the participation of the Egyptian Banking Institute.

In the forefront of the audience was His Excellency Dr. Tarek Amer, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, Ministers of Social Solidarity, Justice, Supply and Internal Trade, Parliament Affairs, Education and Technical Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research, Planning, Follow-up and Administrative Reform, Communications and Information Technology, the Minister of Transport, and a number of government officials from countries Arabia.

On the side of the League of Arab States, Ambassador Hossam Zaki, Assistant Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, His Excellency Ambassador Mohamed Mohamed Al-Rabie, Secretary-General of the Council of Economic Unity of the League of Arab States, Atef Helmy, President of the General Assembly of the Arab Union for Digital Economy, and His Excellency Dr. Ali Mohamed El Khoury, Advisor to the Council of Economic Unity of the League of Arab States and President of the Arab Union for the Digital Economy.

 A number of central bank and banking sector leaders, more than 1,400 participants from inside and outside Egypt, and 150 of the most prominent global and local experts in the field of financial technology, payments, and e-commerce participated in the event, the most important of its kind on the African continent, as well as a large number of emerging financial technology companies.

The conference activities began with the opening of the Financial Technology and Innovation Exhibition, where His Excellency the Prime Minister, accompanied by His Excellency the Governor of the Central Bank, Ministers and representatives of the League of Arab States, inspected the pavilions of the exhibition, in which more than 50 exhibitors of financial technology and e-commerce services are participating.

In his opening speech, His Excellency Dr. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly welcomed the guests of Egypt and the conference participants, stressing that “financial technology” is the way to achieve a breakthrough in the efficiency and effectiveness of financial and banking services provided to various segments of society, especially the simple citizen, and provide a new type of job opportunities for young people, stressing his government’s keenness that It bears all the costs and burdens of providing non-cash payment methods and making them available to citizens to benefit from its many advantages without any additional cost. Hence the importance of this conference, whose topics it addresses are in line with global trends and the efforts made by the state to transform into a digital economy and enhance financial inclusion, and at the forefront of these efforts is the establishment of The National Payments Council headed by the President of the Republic, praising the effort made by the Central Bank’s work team, which is appreciated by all, to keep pace with international standards for the transition to a non-cash payments system.

His Excellency the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt thanked the Egyptian government and all the ministries and agencies that worked and still work with the Central Bank and provided it with all cooperation and support to achieve many achievements that could only be achieved through teamwork, stressing that “the advancement of the financial technology industry represents an important link. One of the episodes of economic reform, given its contribution to providing banking services to citizens at competitive prices and achieving financial inclusion, and that the conference, with its experts and participants, represents a promising opportunity to learn about the development of financial technology worldwide, which the Central Bank is keen to keep pace with constantly. What is clearly reflected in the strategy of financial technology and innovation support that allows Egypt to move with the speed necessary to keep pace with the rapid developments in the field of financial technology.”

The activities of the first day of the conference witnessed a number of lectures by experts in the field of information technology, and the proceedings of the conference sessions, where the main speakers dealt with many important topics related to the two main axes of the conference, namely “financial technology” and “e-commerce”, in addition to the signing of two memoranda of understanding, the first witnessed the signing of His Excellency the Prime Minister, His Excellency the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, His Excellency Dr. Amr Talaat, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, and Dr. Mohamed Omran, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Financial Supervisory Authority, and it was signed by Ms. Lubna Hilal, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Counselor Khaled Al-Nashar, Vice President of the Financial Supervisory Authority, Counselor Ahmed Saeed, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Unit, and Eng. Mustafa Abdel Wahed, Acting The CEO of the National Telecom Regulatory Authority, in order to coordinate the areas and mechanisms of joint cooperation between these regulatory authorities in the field of financial technology, according to the scope of their respective jurisdictions. His Excellency the Prime Minister also witnessed the signing of the second memorandum of understanding between the Central Bank of Egypt and the Ministry of Social Solidarity, which was signed by: His Excellency the Governor of the Central Bank and His Excellency Dr. Ghada Wali, Minister of Social Solidarity, with the aim of coordinating cooperation between the two sides to benefit from the mechanization of payments from the ministry’s social protection network, such as the disbursement of cash support and other new programs such as the issuance of Meeza cards for people with special needs, in order to support the state’s transformation into a digital economy and financial inclusion.