Abu Dhabi, 1 July 2021: The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) holds today, Thursday July 1^st, 2021, a special workshop to propagate additional knowledge on Buna, the cross-border and multi-currency payment system owned by the AMF, covering various elements related to Buna activities and future plans.

During this workshop, Buna executive team will be enriching the current acquaintance of the banking community with Buna’s innovative solutions and its concrete contribution to the development of the payment sector in the Arab region and beyond, by addressing a diversified list of topics including operations, products roadmap, settlement model, as well as security and compliance frameworks.

The workshop will host more than 200 senior officials representing Arab and international central banks, along with various institutions from the financial, banking and payment sectors in the region and beyond, seeking valuable information about Buna’s recent plans and developments.

The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) issued today Tuesday, August 17, 2021, Policy Guide on “Strategies for Adopting DLT/ Blockchain Technologies in Arab Countries” prepared by the Arab Regional Fintech Working Group (WG), which AMF has its technical secretariat. The guide is being issued in the framework of the Fund's endeavours to promote awareness of the requirements for developing Fintech industry and supporting digital financial transformation efforts in Arab countries.

The guide aims to provide policy directions on how to adopt these technologies in the financial sector, how to employ them properly, the related pre-requisites; thereby improving the efficiency of financial and banking services and enhancing support for digital financial transformation and financial inclusion efforts. The guide elaborates on the various types of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) and blockchain, clarifies common myths and misconceptions about them, highlights their governance methodologies, and the initiatives of different countries in adopting these technologies and how to formulate national strategies.

On Wednesday, January 06,2021, The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) and the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate international cooperation between the two organizations to jointly undertake technical activities relating to the prudential, Shari’ah, accounting and governance standards as well as for promoting awareness of issues that are relevant or have an impact on the regulation and supervision of the Islamic financial services institutions, in addition to other areas of common interest between the two institutions.

The MOU was signed by H.E. Dr. Abdulrahman A. Al Hamidy, Director General Chairman of the Board of the Arab Monetary Fund, and Mr. Omar Mustafa Ansari Secretary-General of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI).

On Wednesday, January 06,2021, The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) and the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate international cooperation between the two organizations to jointly undertake technical activities relating to the prudential, Shari’ah, accounting and governance standards as well as for promoting awareness of issues that are relevant or have an impact on the regulation and supervision of the Islamic financial services institutions, in addition to other areas of common interest between the two institutions.

The MOU was signed by H.E. Dr. Abdulrahman A. Al Hamidy, Director General Chairman of the Board of the Arab Monetary Fund, and Mr. Omar Mustafa Ansari Secretary-General of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI).

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.

Abu Dhabi, 26 January 2021: The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) is pleased to announce its relationship with J.P. Morgan to serve as a settlement bank for the U.S. Dollar (USD) in the Buna Payment System, which has been launched last year.

The inclusion of the USD in Buna in coordination with J.P. Morgan marks another major milestone with respect to establishing Buna as the payment system of choice across the Arab world. Such an announcement will further strengthen Buna’s value proposition and benefit in terms of streamlining cross-border payments, hence promoting trade and fostering economic activities among Arab countries and between the Arab region and its main trading partners.

In its endeavor to support the decision-makers in the Arab countries, the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) in collaboration with a number of the Joint Arab Institutions has released the 40^th edition of the Joint Arab Economic Report (JAER) in its Arabic and briefed English version.

The report is a model of the fruitful cooperation between the Joint Arab Institutions. It is co-authored by the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Arab Monetary Fund, Organization Of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC). The Arab Monetary Fund takes the responsibility of editing and publishing the report.

The participating institutions are keen to ensure that the Report reflects the current situations of Arab economies accurately and objectively, both in terms of data and used methodology. The JAER authors collect the required data and information from reliable official sources through a comprehensive survey dedicated to this purpose.