"Israeli fintech companies have a tremendous opportunity to invest in Abu Dhabi"

The financial event in Abu Dhabi was attended by members of the Beyond Business business delegation of Bank Hapoalim and the Export Institute, in which leading Israeli businessmen alongside government officials and senior businessmen from the United Arab Emirates.
Among the topics discussed in the forum were what are the best ways for Israeli businessmen to seek and make an investment in Abu Dhabi, the benefits of investing in a venture in the union and an overview of the main highlights and future opportunities for trading and investing in financial services.
"There are over 20 different banks operating in the UAE today and there is no such amount of justification. In the end, the banking system will have to go through a process of consolidation in which only 5 banks and 15 will disappear. So Israeli fintech companies have a tremendous opportunity to invest in this area."
This was stated on Monday by Sabah al-Binali, head of the Gulf region of the investment platform OurCrowd, in a panel on fintech investments in the fintech and cyber forum of ADGM - Abu Dhabi's financial trading area.
Munira Hisham al-Qutab, a senior executive at the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), also highlighted the opportunities for Israeli fintech and information security entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom.
"We see huge potential for partnerships in the financial services industry, thanks to Abu Dhabi's being a leading fintech coordinator and ADGM's support for businesses. Through our private sector empowerment programs and tools, ADIO will continue to support Israeli businesses and help them succeed in Abu Dhabi," said Hisham al-Kutab.
In addition, the candidacy of 6 Israeli companies was presented for "The Search", the fintech competition that takes place this year in Abu Dhabi and locates the leading startups in the world in the fields of fintech and cyber. The Israeli start-ups that presented in the competition: Nayax, Blender Financial Technologies, TenureX, CRiskCo Israel Ltd, Neema and ThetaRay.
Prof. Leo Leiderman, Chief Economic Adviser of Bank Hapoalim, said: "Fintech is a way to provide economic service to households, corporations and companies and economic regulation will be clearer with its help. Fintech is a marathon in which cooperation between countries is something built over years, a marathon of several years "Banks have a method of risk management and we are also subject to supervision by the Bank of Israel. But we also need financial education. Fintech does not exist without the right financial education. Like everything in banks, risk management is an important tier in Fintech," said Leiderman.
According to him, the development of fintech is affected by background noises in the financial markets such as a huge increase in world wealth or aggressive policies of governments under the corona. The central banks, in his estimation, will sometime impose new restrictions on the market and this will affect the cash flow in the market. "This is an opportunity for Fintech to prepare for various risk and change scenarios in the market. Black swans will always show up and need to prepare. Last year was a year of deficit mainly due to the corona but now we are in recovery.
It is good to know that the United Kingdom and Israel have succeeded in managing the corona crisis. "Both economies were among the first to emerge from the closures, which can rebuild the economy," Leiderman said.

Dov Kotler, CEO of Bank Hapoalim, also commented on the length of time required for fintech projects to mature relationships with financial entities, especially in the Gulf region: "Young startups need to know that fintech and start-ups are a marathon and not a 100-meter run," he said.
To the hosts from ADIO he said: "We fulfilled our promise and came here for the third time and now it's time for you to come to us in Israel. Our delegation has smarter and younger people and we have a lot to learn from them. We came here for mutual fertilization and learning from each other and exchanging opinions."