MANAMA, 5 October 2007 — The Union of Arab Banks (UAB) and Italy yesterday inked a pact in a bid to strengthen ties in economic, political and social sectors as well as to significantly improve their financial relationships. The step is considered a step toward creating an Italo-Arab banking federation, a platform to bring both sides closer.
The president of ABI, Corrado Faissola and the president of AUB Adnan Yousif, who is also chief executive officer of Al-Baraka Banking Group, said after the signing that the step would further strengthened the two-way ties.
Yousif termed the MOU a step in the right direction and hoped that this would help to bolster the ties in all vital sectors.
Faissola said “the agreement with the UAB is a possible model for Europe to follow. Both sides have been working hard to cement the existing ties by instituting a permanent dialogue and collaboration between the countries’ two banking associations.
He said the agreement was just a starting point. “ABI and the UAB have set aside a year to organize this reciprocal collaboration. It is our intention that the next step will be creating a real Italo-Arab banking federation that can be used as a model for other European countries.”
The MOU, besides strengthening the exchange of information, data and managerial experience, also provides for the setting up of a working table envisaged as a place where bank experts from Italy and the Arab countries can meet periodically and identify solutions to common concerns, investment opportunities and upcoming developments.
The participants of the ABI/UAB working table will meet in Italy and thereafter in each of the Arab countries participating in the initiative, starting from those countries in the Gulf region.
The agreement provides for a series of linked initiatives, starting in October, as well as for two technical seminars defined by geographic area, one related to the Gulf countries and the other related to the Northern African countries, as well as the production of a publication cycle on various banking systems.
“Strengthening dialogue and collaboration will help to identify new opportunities and develop them in the right direction, not only for the banking sector and Italy but also for Europe, as well as in the future, for the security of the Mediterranean and Middle East,” Faissola said. The signing was held on the second day of the Forum on Internationalization, which was organized by ABI in collaboration with Confederation of Italian Industry (Confindustria), the Italian Foreign Trade Institute (ICE), the Italian Export Credit Agency (SACE) and the Italian Investment Agency (Simest). Ugo Intini (vice minister of Foreign Affairs), Fouad Shaker (secretary-general of UAB), Ambassador Gamal Bayoumi (president of Arab Investors).
The second day of the forum was dedicated to the Italo-Arab dialogue from a political, economic and financial perspective.