BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 13. UAE hails the IsDB
Baku conferences as a catalyst for regional integration.
“These conferences as soon as once more served as an necessary platform for
constructive dialogue amongst member international locations to form growth
priorities, change data and finest practices, and strengthen
financial cooperation. In opposition to the backdrop of the quickly evolving
geopolitical and financial panorama, significantly the current
developments affecting the Gulf area, the discussions held throughout
this 12 months’s conferences carried added significance. They offered an
alternative to handle rising challenges, improve financial
resilience, and establish new avenues for sustainable and inclusive
progress,” Ali Abdullah Sharafi, Assistant Undersecretary for
Worldwide Monetary Relations of the Ministry of Finance of the
United Arab Emirates (UEA) mentioned in an unique interview with
Development.
He identified that the candid and forward-looking conversations
held throughout these conferences will contribute to shaping insurance policies and
initiatives that assist long-term growth goals,
strengthen regional connectivity, and promote higher financial
integration amongst member international locations.
“The conferences additionally superior cooperation in key areas comparable to
infrastructure growth, commerce facilitation, personal sector
participation, meals and vitality safety, digital transformation,
and local weather resilience. A key spotlight of this 12 months’s conferences was
the chance to strengthen partnerships between governments,
multilateral establishments, and the personal sector, whereas mobilizing
assets for high-impact growth initiatives. At a time of
heightened uncertainty within the world economic system, these discussions
helped reinforce the significance of coordinated responses that
assist stability, prosperity, and sustainable growth throughout
member international locations,” Sharafi added.
He went on so as to add that this 12 months’s theme of the IsDB conferences
intently aligns with the UAE imaginative and prescient.
“The principle theme of this 12 months’s Annual Conferences was “Regional
integration is a driver of sustainable prosperity,” which
reaffirmed IsDB’s dedication to strengthen regional cooperation and
foster sustainable progress amongst its member international locations. This theme
intently aligns with the imaginative and prescient of the United Arab Emirates, which
believes that strengthening financial and growth cooperation
amongst nations is a elementary pillar for attaining sustainable
progress and shared prosperity,” mentioned Sharafi.
He famous that the UAE has a long-standing dedication to
sustainable growth and financial progress, in step with the
goals of the UAE Centennial 2071, which seeks to construct a
aggressive knowledge-based economic system pushed by innovation and
sustainability whereas additional strengthening the nation’s place
as a world hub for growth and financial alternatives.
“On this context, the UAE underscored the significance of
collective motion and multilateralism in addressing world
challenges. The UAE reaffirmed its assist for IsDB’s continued
efforts aimed toward enhancing regional financial integration and
advancing cooperation mechanisms amongst member international locations, thereby
contributing to the achievement of sustainable growth objectives,
bettering the financial and social well-being of their peoples, and
laying the foundations for long-term prosperity for future
generations. Moreover, the UAE believes that regional
integration extends past merely strengthening financial and commerce
ties; it additionally entails data change, capability constructing, and
addressing shared challenges, which finally fosters extra
inclusive and sustainable growth throughout member international locations,”
Sharafi mentioned.
UAE urges IsDB members to diversify economies to spice up
resilience
“To strengthen the resilience of member international locations’ monetary
techniques throughout the Islamic Growth Financial institution (IsDB) framework, a
multi-dimensional method that blends proactive threat administration
with long-term structural transformation is crucial. Financial
diversification stays the simplest hedge in opposition to exterior
shocks. By drawing classes from the UAE’s expertise, the place
deliberate efforts to construct a knowledge-based, innovation-driven
economic system contributed to actual GDP progress of 5.6% in 2025, supported
by 6.1% progress in non-oil sectors, member international locations can successfully
insulate themselves from commodity value volatility,” Ali Abdullah
Sharafi famous.
Furthermore, he believes that institutionalizing foresight is
equally essential.
“International locations should transfer past reactive measures by investing in
refined, data-driven early finance threat identification
fashions. The IsDB’s Response, Restoration and Resilience (3R) Facility
gives a helpful blueprint for this, providing a mechanism to
present fast emergency financing and strengthen preparedness.
Increasing such frameworks ensures that even essentially the most fragile member
states can develop buffers in opposition to macroeconomic and
climate-related shocks,” mentioned Sharafi.
Moreover, based on him, leveraging the intrinsic
stability of Islamic finance, which hyperlinks capital to actual financial
manufacturing, helps forestall speculative bubbles that usually exacerbate
world downturns.
“This have to be coupled with an unwavering dedication to
multilateral cooperation. Through the use of the IsDB platform to change
finest practices and foster South-South collaboration, member
international locations can align their coverage reforms to rework systemic
vulnerabilities into sustainable progress alternatives. On this period
of world uncertainty, resilience isn’t a solitary endeavor; it’s
reasonably a shared purpose achieved via built-in planning,
inclusive finance, and strategic, long-term financial
diversification,” Sharafi defined.
Growth of Islamic finance in UAE
He believes Islamic Fintech represents the “subsequent frontier” for
the UAE’s Islamic banking sector.
Sharafi recalled that in 2025, world Islamic finance property
reached roughly USD 6 trillion, with Islamic banking property
accounting for about USD 4 trillion of that complete.
“The sector continues to keep up a powerful 10% progress
trajectory, largely pushed by the Center East (particularly the
GCC) area, which stays the trade’s epicenter, holding
roughly 50–55% of complete Islamic financial institution property. The UAE is
persistently ranked among the many world’s main Islamic finance hubs,
alongside Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. Past our established banking
infrastructure, the UAE is acknowledged as a key chief within the progress
of the Islamic fintech ecosystem, supported by a extremely progressive
and favorable regulatory surroundings. As a pioneer and lively
driver of digital transformation, I consider Islamic Fintech
represents the “subsequent frontier” for the UAE’s Islamic banking
sector. By leveraging our state-of-the-art digital infrastructure,
we’re well-positioned to scale these improvements globally,” he
mentioned.
Moreover, he highlighted a big momentum in inexperienced
sukuk and ESG-linked Sharia-compliant finance.
“In accordance with Fitch information from earlier this 12 months, the UAE was the
second-largest greenback sukuk issuer globally in 2025, trailing solely
the leaders within the main market. It additionally solidified its place
because the third-largest ESG sukuk issuer worldwide,” Sharafi
added.
UAE expects CEPA to deepen financial integration with
Azerbaijan
“The United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan preserve a sturdy
strategic partnership, additional cemented by the Complete
Financial Partnership Settlement (CEPA), which entered into drive on
15 April 2026. This settlement serves as an important framework to
promote funding flows, improve commerce, and foster progress in
monetary providers, together with the growth of financing choices
for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),” Abdullah Sharafi
mentioned.
He recalled that by the top of 2022, the UAE has invested extra
than USD 1.1 billion within the Azerbaijani economic system.
“Using the CEPA’s devoted chapter on providers, which is a
first for Azerbaijan, might additional deepen financial integration and
create new avenues for private-sector cooperation between the 2
nations in a way that serves our shared pursuits and advances
mutually helpful commerce in providers in addition to sustainable
growth goals,” mentioned Sharafi.
He identified that the UAE and Azerbaijan have a signed Double
Taxation Avoidance Settlement (DTA) that has been in impact since 28
August 2007.
“Designed to stop the double taxation of earnings and capital,
this treaty gives readability on taxing rights for traders and
companies working throughout each jurisdictions and additional helps
bilateral funding,” added Sharafi.
