The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) plan to expand cooperation into central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), cross-border payments using QR codes and green finance.
Ahmed Saeed Al Qamzi, assistant governor for Banking and Insurance Supervision at the CBUAE, said the partnership now spans more than 17 years and is being broadened to new areas.
“Our partnership with the Monetary Authority of Singapore spans more than 17 years, and we are now looking to broaden it to new areas, particularly cross-border payment and settlement solutions. This will help facilitate trade and investment flows between our two countries and deliver benefits to businesses and individuals alike,” he said.
“We believe that closer knowledge exchange between our institutions will help us keep pace with the rapid transformation of the global financial sector,” added Al Qamzi
The bilateral meeting was held on the sidelines of the 2026 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Bangkok.
The UAE delegation also included Ebrahim Obaid Al Zaabi, assistant governor for Monetary Policy and Financial Stability, and Mohamed Hussain Al Marzooqi, head of International and Domestic Affairs.
They met Leong Sing Chiong, Deputy Managing Director (Markets and Development) of MAS, and several senior officials from the Singapore regulator.
The discussion on CBDCs comes as the UAE advances its own Digital Dirham.
The CBUAE has said the Digital Dirham will operate on a two-tier model, in which the central bank issues the currency and licensed financial institutions distribute it to users through digital wallets. It has also said a successful real-value retail pilot has been completed, with a phased launch to follow. When the CBUAE unveiled the new dirham symbol in March 2025, it said the digital wallet would support retail, wholesale and cross-border payments.
Bilateral non-oil trade between the UAE and Singapore reached $6.54 billion in 2025, up 25.3 per cent from $5.2 billion in 2024. The UAE is Singapore’s largest trading partner in the Middle East, and UAE direct investment in Singapore totalled $5.12 billion between 2021 and 2025.
Source: Khaleej Times