UAE-Syria Central Bank MoU Sets Banking Cooperation Track

The UAE and Syrian central banks put a new cooperation framework in place through a memorandum of understanding covering financial and technical work, Arab News reported.

The decision creates a regulator-to-regulator channel for banking supervision, payment systems and policy expertise as Syria works to restore connections with regional financial networks.

The pact was signed by UAE central bank governor Khaled Mohamed Balama and his Syrian counterpart, Mohammad Safwat Abdel Hamid Raslan.

Rather than announcing a single bank, product or investment, the document gives both authorities a framework for capacity building, specialist knowledge exchange and rule-making cooperation in shared areas of interest.

Its agenda is wide.

Payment systems, monetary policy, cash management, financial technologies, climate-risk management and sustainable finance are all included.

The cooperation also extends to inclusion, literacy, credit information, reporting standards and risk controls, giving the memorandum both a financial-infrastructure track and a supervisory track.

Consumer-protection work is part of the same regulatory channel.

That policy scope matters because Syria is trying to expand its banking sector and attract outside capital.

In September, Raslan put expected foreign capital for new banks at more than $1 billion.

Seven regional financial delegations had shown interest in establishing banks in Syria, while the Syrian central bank has also been trying to rebuild correspondent banking relationships and improve access to regional networks.

The agreement follows other signs of closer UAE-Syria economic engagement.

In May, the first Syrian-Emirati Investment Forum in Damascus brought officials and business leaders together for talks covering sectors from tourism and property to agriculture, energy, aviation, logistics, healthcare and technology.

The central-bank memorandum adds a financial-regulatory route to that wider investment conversation.

Balama framed the memorandum as a way to support financial-system resilience, improve financial infrastructure and keep pace with financial technology.

He also linked the cooperation to broader opportunities for financial institutions in both countries and to the sector's role in supporting growth and development.

Raslan focused on banking supervision, regulation, payments, transfer systems and banking infrastructure.

He also singled out financial inclusion, institutional capacity and stronger regulatory and supervisory frameworks as areas where the agreement could lead to practical work.

The regulatory track reaches into licensing for financial activities and institutions, enforcement, compliance and consumer protection.

Those areas make the memorandum more than a diplomatic statement: the two central banks can compare supervisory practice while Syria tries to make its banking system more usable for regional partners.

The result is still a framework, not an immediate bank launch or investment commitment.

Its practical value depends on how the two regulators use the new channel to exchange expertise, align oversight work and support banking links as Syria develops its financial infrastructure and integrates more closely with regional markets.