Islamic Banking and Fintech: The path for boosting the UAE remittances & experts' advice.

DUBAI (UAE) -- The conference, titled "Remitlink23: Resilient Remittances," was orchestrated by Dellsons Associate in collaboration with the Embassy of Pakistan in UAE and the Foreign Exchange and Remittance Group (FERG). Generous sponsorship was provided by Dubai Islamic Bank, JazzCash, and Instant Cash. During the conference, speakers highlighted the potential for Pakistani expatriates in Dubai and other Gulf states to increase their remittances to their homeland by utilizing banking channels and taking advantage of financial institutions, government initiatives, and community development efforts. Addressing the Resilient Remittances (RemiLink23) conference in Dubai as the chief guest, Faisal Niaz Tirmzi, Ambassador to Pakistan for UAE, said the UAE is the second largest host country in the world with over 1.6 million Pakistani nationals, and the num

ber of Pakistani professionals coming to different states of this country is on the rise in recent months. Pakistani professionals and workers in different states of the United Arab Emirates are resourceful, hardworking, and patriotic, having a deep sense of responsibility to serve their homeland through their valuable contribution, including sending remittances through banking channels, he said and added that the government recently took various initiatives to enhance flow of remittances which are expected to increase the use of banking channels among overseas Pakistanis. Imad ul Malik, joint treasurer at the Foreign Exchange and Remittances Group (Ferg), said people involved in the hundi system not only deliver money to the doorstep of the recipients, but also offer advance money services to people who need it - which is big incentive for expats. "We should also have microfinance on remittances whereby funds are delivered in

advance and people pay a month later," he said. Salman Hasan Khan, head of priority banking and PRI at Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan, said financial institutions played a crucial role in connecting overseas Pakistanis with their relatives in their homeland, but they were working continuously to facilitate the Pakistani diaspora in different states of the UAE.

Khan said Pakistanis in different countries preferred Islamic banking over the interest-based system, hence there was a need to promote Sharia-based financial...