By promoting financial inclusion to support comprehensive and sustainable economic development, face unemployment challenges, and achieve social justice. There is no doubt that the current developments and the negative repercussions of the spread of the Corona pandemic clearly highlighted the great importance of employing modern technologies for the purposes of financial inclusion, and the need to enhance digital financial services and educate their users. The pandemic has boosted the demand for digital financial services and made the need to accelerate digital transformation and improve digital financial services a critical issue in economic policies in the Arab region. The Arab Monetary, being aware of the potential and great opportunities that can be achieved by the Board of Governors of Arab Central Banks and Monetary Institutions in 2016, in light of the growing need to intensify awareness of the importance of financial inclusion and its axes among all parties in the Arab countries, to adopt on April 27 of each A year as an Arab Day for Financial Inclusion, celebrated this year under the slogan “The Role of Digital Transformation in Promoting Financial Inclusion.” It is important on this occasion to emphasize the support of the international community’s efforts in promoting financial inclusion.

The Honorable Council is keen to give the issues of financial inclusion in the Arab countries the importance they deserve. The Council blessed the Arab Monetary Fund, in cooperation with several regional and international institutions, to launch the regional initiative to enhance financial inclusion in the Arab region, with the aim of enabling and strengthening capabilities and capabilities to overcome obstacles to advancement. indicators of financial inclusion in the Arab countries. In this context, the Council appreciates the activities included in the initiative focusing on digital financial transformation. While the Council calls on partner institutions in the initiative to pay more attention to supporting the employment of modern technologies in enhancing the access of youth, women and micro, small and medium enterprises to financial services, it welcomes the guiding document for digital financial transformation in the Arab region issued by the initiative in September 2020, as a roadmap to help develop policies and action plans for inclusive and secure financial technology innovation. The document is based on several primary goals, namely enhancing access, expanding use and quality. The document discusses various frameworks to support the transition to digital finance, including new financial technology regulatory labs, consumer protection and financial education, financial and technology infrastructure, competition, data and cyber security, and surveillance and collaboration. In this regard, it should be noted the steps and measures taken by Arab countries to promote financial culture, especially digital ones. Arab countries can also work on developing and integrating national action plans that contribute to the digital transformation of financial systems and support economic development to achieve sustainable growth and alleviate poverty.

The Council also reiterates the need to integrate all segments of society and its segments into the formal financial system, especially youth, women, entrepreneurs and the micro, small and medium enterprises sector, to benefit from technologies and follow-up efforts to raise awareness among all these groups, protect their financial rights and improve their knowledge of digital financial matters, including They can make the right decisions. In this context, the Ministries of Education, Culture and Higher Education in the Arab countries can contribute to strengthening efforts to spread and deepen digital financial education and education.

In the context of the increasing importance that the uses of modern financial technologies are gaining in the financial and banking sector and the great and rapid growth witnessed by the industry of these technologies and related services worldwide, the Council commended the role of the Regional Working Group for Modern Financial Technologies launched by the Arab Monetary Fund in exchanging experiences and knowledge on issues of Modern financial technologies and crystallization of different visions to activate and regulate them in the Arab countries. In this context, it is worth noting that the Fund issued during the year 2020 several guides and guiding principles that enhance awareness of the requirements of digital transformation, specifically the guiding document on digital identity and know your customer electronic, and the principles of building national strategies for modern financial technologies, in addition to the recently issued document on banking operations open. Arab countries can adopt the guidelines contained in these guides within the framework of the needs and procedures of each country.