The Role of Banks in Funding the Economic Development of Arab Countries

In the Arab world there is a juxtaposition between countries with a very high current account surplus and countries requiring funding to enable them to maintain sustained investments. This breakfast debate will attempt to analyse the strategies implemented by banks and the Arab financial systems to organise transfers from capital-surplus countries towards capital-deficit countries and, more generally, to safeguard savings, while encouraging risk-taking and entrepreneurship in developing economies.

Participants: 

• Ismail Douiri, Managing Director of Attijariwafa Bank (Morocco)
• Fadi Halout, Country CEO and Managing Director (France) of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)
• Thierry Simon, Customer Relations Manager, Head of the Crédit Agricole CIB International Network (France), and Administrator of Saudi Fransi (Saudi Arabia)
• Régis Barriac, International Director, HSBC France Corporate Markets