The Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN) has entered a strategic partnership with Qatar Development Bank (QDB), represented by Qatar Fintech Hub (QFTH), to establish a Global Centre of Excellence (CoE) for finance and technology in Doha.
The initiative aims to promote regional collaboration, strengthen links with Asian markets, and deepen connections with Singapore’s fintech ecosystem.
Under the partnership, QDB and GFTN will pursue two main initiatives.
The first is the Qatar Forum, an annual fintech event in Doha integrated with GFTN’s global platforms, including the Singapore Fintech Festival 2025.
The forum will bring together policymakers, regulators, financial institutions, investors, startups, and academia to discuss innovation, inclusion, and the future of finance.
Doha was selected due to its position as a rapidly growing fintech hub with advanced financial infrastructure and a progressive regulatory environment.
The second initiative is the Doha Policy, Capacity and Innovation Centre of Excellence.
The CoE will provide research and policy insights on transformative financial technologies affecting markets from Africa and Central Asia to the GCC.
It will connect regulators, financial institutions, and innovators to promote collaboration and harmonised policy frameworks.
The centre will also focus on capacity development through knowledge transfer, leadership programmes, and policy workshops.
Sopnendu Mohanty, Group CEO of GFTN said:
“Together with QDB’s deep commitment to entrepreneurship, innovation, and national capacity building, we are creating a platform that connects capital, policy, technology and talent into an engine for accelerated and inclusive digital growth across MENA.”
Abdulrahman Hesham Al-Sowaidi, CEO of QDB and Chairman of QFTH said:
“Through this partnership with GFTN’s global network, policy expertise, and digital innovation platforms, we aim to accelerate the development of local fintech capabilities, attract world-class innovators to Qatar, and complement the existing fintech infrastructure to create an ecosystem that connects local capacity with global opportunity.”
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by zara66579 via Freepik
