Dr. R Seetharaman, executive director of Doha Bank, says cooperation between Qatar and Hong Kong in key areas such as virtual trade, start-up support and the progression of fintech platforms can be only bilateral relations between the two countries.
Seetharaman, whose comments came here in a recent webinar, noted that relations between Qatar and Hong Kong can be strengthened as either country continues to assist the Lusail Smart City project.
Seetharaman that the bilateral industry between the two countries is valued at around $1 billion (in 2019). It showed that several MOUs had been signed between the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (RAEHK), InvestHK and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) and the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA).
As the Gulf Times reports, these MOUs aim to strengthen cooperation between countries in many other initiatives, adding the progression and adoption of fintech.
Yousuf Mohamed al-Jaida, managing director of the Qatar Financial Center, recently said that the country intends to take advantage of the fintech sector through execution with other Asian countries, adding Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
The recent webinar, which focused on “Bilateral and Synergistic Opportunities Between Qatar and Hong Kong”, also included comments from Wenda Ma, deputy chief economist of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Ma talked about “Qatar and Hong Kong: Business and Investment Relations and Opportunities,” while Alan Lee, Regional Director, Commercial Development-Executive Center, discussed genuine real estate methods that could work well when it comes to COVID-19.
As noted, Qatar Fintech Hub continues to obtain programs as the country prepares for a knowledge-based and cashless virtual economy.
SkipCash, Qatar’s mobile payments company, founded at the Qatar Financial Center (QFC), plans to diversify and also aims to serve foreign markets. SkipCash has joined Visa’s accelerated Fintech program, which will allow Fintech to seamlessly integrate with Visa and take advantage of the scope, features and security of VisaNet, the invoice giant’s global payment network.
SkipCash will offer a variety of cellular payment responses (in-app purchases, online and at points of sale). It will also take into account physical and virtual Visa cards and facilitate card-to-card transfers.
Mohamed Abdulaziz al-Delaimi, co-founder and CEO of SkipCash, noted:
“This will allow us to go beyond cellular payments, and even beyond the local market.”