In March 2021, the WAIFC board unanimously agreed to recognize the DIFC, the leading financial center in the MEASA region as a member of the association, the 4th from the GCC to spearhead the development of digital finance and in the areas of Fintech, Sustainable Finance, and Innovation.
As a non-profit organization located in Brussels and founded in July 2018 in Paris, the WAIFC represents the top nineteen global financial centers across four continents that promote and share best practices in the field of finance with a varied scope of activities and benefit from the collective strength of its members. The alliance as city governments and other financial institutions also facilitates cooperation amongst the group members and interaction with the general public besides developing and promoting their financial Centres.
As a member of WAIFC, DIFC as the highest-ranked financial center in the MEASA region will now collaborate with other leading global financial centers in Tokyo, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Toronto, and in many other countries on global best practices some of which are already entered into memorandums of understanding with DIFC.
DIFC with the vision to drive the future of finance is focused on embracing new and innovative technologies in the field of finance and aims for achieving sustainable economic and social goals including Environmental protection.
“We are very pleased to have DIFC join our association. Dubai is a leading global financial center, and DIFC will undoubtedly bring a valued contribution to our initiatives. We are very much looking forward to working with the colleagues in Dubai,” remarked Jennifer Reynolds, the Chairwoman of the WAIFC.
CEO of DIFC Authority, Arif Amiri highlighted: “DIFC is pleased to be joining the World Alliance of International Financial Centres. The Centre is looking forward to representing Dubai and building partnerships with other members so we can be a collective force for good. Together we can make progress in areas such as FinTech, innovation, sustainable finance, and developing digital economies. We can align our approaches which will allow us to cohesively drive the future of finance.”
Dr. Jochen Biedermann, Managing Director of the WAIFC, added: “DIFC has been an observer to WAIFC since last year, and we are delighted that it will join WAIFC as a full member now. DIFC has had a phenomenal development in less than twenty years from its first steps to one of the world’s leading financial centers. We are very much looking forward to exchanging best practices and learning from each other.”
Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and President of DIFC with his able leadership taken DIFC to the pinnacle of its performance during 2020 amidst global economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic and elevated the country’s status as a pivotal global economic destination with many businesses reporting exponential growth, including capital markets, asset management, FinTech, professional services, and banking aided by a conducive FinTech and venture capital environments, cost-effective licensing and easy DIFC management startup license, flexible regulation, innovative promotional events, and easy access to funds for start-ups.
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