UAE takes part in G20 meeting on financial inclusion

Improving access for finance to smaller businesses will help them to access untapped funding sources, online event hears

The UAE’s plan to increase the contribution of the industrial sector to the country’s economy in the next 10 years will help create new jobs and attract investment. Victor Besa / The National

Boosting the digital competencies of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (mSMEs) will increase the financial inclusion of the sector by creating a broader network of investors that will help them to unlock untapped resources, UAE representatives told a G20 Finance Track meeting.

Improving connectivity will also provide the sector with direct access to alternative cost-effective channels of funding, Mariam Al Hajri, a deputy manager at the Ministry of Finance, and Fatima Al Jabiri, head of the Central Bank of the UAE's Consumer Protection Department, told the G20’s first Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) meeting.

“There is a need to improve financial literacy programmes during the post-Covid era”, as it will allow individuals and companies to make “sound financial decisions”, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Wednesday.

The online GPFI meeting discussed ways to develop financial inclusion and determine methods for the mSME sector – the main provider of jobs across the world – to recover from the pandemic.

The UAE team reaffirmed the country’s ongoing efforts to spur the mSME sector, which is at the forefront of the UAE's ambition to become a global incubator for industry, trade and innovation.

In June last year, the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development teamed up with more than 40 federal, local and semi-government entities as well as the private sector to implement a coalition project to support mSMEs.

The project focuses on mSMEs operating in highly skilled fields, particularly “science, healthcare, information technology and innovative solutions” that will be supported by loans from the leading banks, the department said at the time.

The UAE delegation said the pandemic has affected smaller businesses in multiple ways and that it is important for the G20 to gauge each country’s level of development when offering practical solutions for challenges faced by smaller businesses.

The G20 Finance Track’s second GPFI meeting will be held on June 24 and 25 to review the progress of reports and programmes approved so far, according to the statement.