Oxford Business Group and Al Fardan Exchange team up for new Covid-19 Response Report.
The Covid Response Report (CRR) provides analysis in an easy-to-navigate and accessible format, focusing on key data and infographics relating to the country’s socio-economic landscape.
The report covers pre-pandemic expansion witnessed across the UAE’s remittance market, which has benefited from the country’s success in positioning itself as a regional financial hub and favoured destination for foreign workers.
OBG also charts the rapid uptake of app-based services across the money transfer industry, fuelled by social distancing precautions and an increased appetite for new technologies, especially mobile services.
The country’s broader innovation ecosystem and the opportunities it offers investors are another key focus. Here, the report tracks the rise in venture capital activity evident in the country throughout 2020, while documenting the segments ripe for investment, such as e-commerce, fintech and medtech.
Detailed analysis of the key developments at Al Fardan Exchange in 2020, including the measures that the exchange house put in place to facilitate business continuity and the huge rise in money transfers conducted via mobile application through the pandemic, is also included in the report.
“The remittance industry has reached an inflection point as a result of Covid-19, with the migrant community increasingly turning to digital services amid a changing payments landscape,” Hasan Fardan Al Fardan, CEO at Al Fardan Exchange, said. “This forced innovation has demonstrated the proficiency of the modern market. In anticipation of further disruptions, the financial industry has turned the frustrations of unknown processes into recognition of value-adding services, as virtual collaboration and innovation became our new reality,” he added.
Jana Treeck, OBG’s Managing Director for the Middle East, said: The UAE’s strong fundamentals, together with its position as a regional leader in disruptive industries, were expected to facilitate a swift economic recovery and support sustainable future growth.
“A GCC-wide CEO survey conducted by Oxford Business Group in July found that UAE-based CEOs were the most likely in the region to have implemented remote working practices, invested in automation and digitalised revenue channels or services,” she said. “The signs are that this sustained digitalization drive is likely to further boost productivity and, over time, strengthen the country’s competitiveness.”
The CRR on the UAE forms part of a series of tailored reports which the global research and advisory company is currently producing with its partners, alongside other highly relevant, go-to research tools, including a range of country-specific Covid-19 Economic Impact Assessment articles and interviews.
