Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the UAE, and President of DIFC, on Sunday announced the launch of the Dubai FinTech Summit, a global event that will bring together more than 5,000 experts, thought leaders, policymakers and decision-makers in Dubai to discuss how they can shape a new wave of innovation, enterprise and growth for the international financial industry.

To be organised by the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the Dubai FinTech Summit, will take place on 8 and 9 May 2023 at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai. The event will see some of the world’s biggest personalities in the industry delivering keynote presentations, sharing their perspectives on industry challenges and identifying opportunities to maximise the impact of FinTech for people, businesses and economies.

Home to the region’s largest cluster of FinTech and Innovation businesses, DIFC is one of the brightest growth spots in the global FinTech market valued at more than $135.9 billion in 2021. The global market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.9% between 2022-2027 to reach a value of over $266.9 billion by 2027.

Sheikh Maktoum said: “The Dubai FinTech Summit reflects the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to turn the emirate into a global innovation hub and a leader in driving the future of finance.

With FinTech emerging as a positive disruptor for transforming the financial landscape, the UAE is leveraging the opportunities brought by FinTech to reinvent the financial services sector.”

“DIFC’s ability to create value for companies in the sector by providing them a highly productive ecosystem to accelerate growth has led to leading innovators and entrepreneurs in the sector gravitating to the emirate.

“The Dubai FinTech Summit will help open new horizons of opportunity and transformation for both the global FinTech sector and the worldwide financial industry.”

Essa Kazim, Governor of DIFC, said: “The Dubai FinTech Summit will bring together ideas, knowledge and perspectives that can help unlock a new phase of exponential growth for the global financial sector and FinTech in the Global Economy. DIFC will leverage the platform offered by the Summit to bring together banks, FinTechs and regulators from across the world to further stimulate the digital advancement of the financial sector.”

“We already have over 600 FinTech and innovation firms in DIFC who are changing the face of the industry and contributing to the economic growth of our country. The 23% expansion that DIFC’s FinTech community saw in the first half of this year is a testament to the dynamic growth-friendly platform that we offer financial companies from across the world.

“We remain focused on bringing more exciting players in the sector to Dubai and helping them to access opportunities here and across the region.”

The Summit is focused on generating tangible outcomes, including reports, strategies and action plans that can help chart the way forward for the financial services industry. The event’s programme will feature in-depth discussions across key tracks including the future of FinTech, embedded and Open Finance, sustainability, Web 3.0 and digital assets. The Summit will also provide an opportunity for more than 100 FinTechs and Future of Finance players to display their latest technology and innovations.

The Dubai FinTech Summit marks the first time the UAE and Dubai will host a global FinTech event of this scale and size. The event builds on the success of DIFC FinTech Week hosted in June 2022, which saw more than 1,500 FinTech innovators, investment firms, banks, policymakers and service providers in the region, discuss drivers of growth in financial services.DIFC, the leading global financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, has continued to attract exceptional interest from financial technology firms, making FinTech the Centre’s fastest growing sector.

Client growth continues to be strong across all sectors, however, interest from FinTechs in the Centre has outpaced other sectors. This has been further amplified by DIFC’s strong schedule of impactful events and international roadshows that have showcased Dubai’s status as a preferred global FinTech and innovation hub.

A DIFC delegation is currently in Singapore, at the Singapore Fintech Festival, exploring collaboration opportunities and finalising commitments from firms in Asia. As a Silver Sponsor of the event and the only sponsor from the region, DIFC is illustrating its role as the most enabling platform in MEASA for FinTech firms, helping start-ups, global players and unicorns to expand their global reach and capture opportunities in fast-growing MEASA markets. Between January and September 2022, DIFC-based FinTech firms secured over Dhs2 billion of funding.