The Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE), in collaboration with G42 Cloud and R3, celebrated the adoption of the CBUAE Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Strategy, one of nine initiatives under the CBUAE’s Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) Programme. G42 Cloud and R3 have been selected as the infrastructure and technology providers for the CBDC implementation. The CBUAE is entering the next milestone of the CBDC journey following successful CBDC initiatives such as Project “Aber” with the Saudi Central Bank and the “mBridge” Project with Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Bank of Thailand, the Digital Currency Institute of the People’s Bank of China, and the Bank for International Settlements.
The first phase of the CBUAE’s CBDC Strategy, scheduled to be completed in the next 12 to 15 months, includes a soft launch of mBridge to facilitate real-value cross-border CBDC transactions, proof-of-concept work for bilateral CBDC bridges with India, and proof-of-concept work for domestic CBDC issuance covering wholesale and retail usage. CBDC is a secure, cost-effective, and efficient form of payment and store of value, which supports the UAE’s digital transformation and promotes financial inclusion. The CBUAE aims to integrate payment infrastructures with the tokenisation world in the future, for both financial and non-financial activities. The Governor of the CBUAE, Khaled Mohamed Balama, said that the launch of the CBDC strategy is a significant step in the evolution of payments and money in the UAE, and it will help to establish the UAE as a leading global financial hub.