Abu Dhabi, 07 January 2021: The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) holds today, Thursday January 7, 2021 a workshop titled “Buna in Operations”, to shed light on the different aspects related to Buna (the cross-border payment system owned by the AMF) entry in full operations and the onboarding of the first wave of participation.

The workshop will host more than 200 senior officials representing various institutions from the financial, banking and payment sectors from the region and other international markets, looking to learn more about Buna’s operations, work progress and future plans.

During the workshop, high-level speakers from the banking sector along with Buna executive team, will share their views on Buna’s completion of the phased go live approach and the start of onboarding in production of participants. The speakers will also discuss the different key phases of Buna establishment from the launching stage to the operations one and plans for the year 2021 and beyond.

At this occasion, Mehdi Manaa, Chief Executive Officer of Buna said: “Buna is now fully operational and totally equipped to achieve its business goals and realize its vision to empower Arab economies and promote regional integration, by providing efficient cross-border payments and supporting investment ties in the region and with global trading partners. As an innovative and secure multicurrency payment system that delivers cross-border settlement in real-time, we are keen to attract and onboard a diversified and broad network of participant banks from the region and beyond, and to demonstrate the added value we bring to the region financial sector and the global payment industry.”

“with the support of all the industry stakeholders, led by the Arab central Banks and the Arab Monetary Fund we are delivering our objectives and we will continue bringing value to our participants and supporting them in growing their offering, thanks to our innovative solutions, high commitment to compliance and security standards.”  Added Manaa.

Buna, is a cross-border payment system owned by the Arab Monetary Fund, aiming to enable financial institutions and central banks in the Arab region and beyond to send and receive payments in local currencies as well as key international currencies in a safe, cost- effective, risk-controlled, and transparent environment. Buna offers participants modern payment solutions that comply with international standards, principles, and international compliance requirements. Thanks to its cross-border payment system Buna contributes to exploring and strengthening opportunities for economic and financial integration in the Arab region and supporting investment ties with the global trading partners. Buna welcomes the inclusion of all banks that meet the criteria and conditions for participation, primarily the standards and procedures of compliance aspects.