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The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) discussed cooperation in digital payments and green finance in talks held this week, according to the Emirates News Agency. A CBUAE delegation engaged with MAS officials on potential areas for enhanced collaboration, including cross-border payment systems and sustainable finance initiatives that align with both nations’ economic diversification goals. The discussions highlighted opportunities to leverage fintech advancements and green investment frameworks to support broader economic partnerships between the UAE and Singapore.
According to the Emirates News Agency, the meetings focused on sharing expertise in digital payment infrastructure and exploring joint approaches to green finance that could facilitate cross-border sustainable projects. The two authorities reviewed progress in central bank digital currencies and tokenisation technologies, areas where both institutions have conducted pilots and regulatory experiments in recent years. These conversations build upon an existing memorandum of understanding signed in 2009 between MAS and CBUAE that established channels for supervisory information exchange, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reported.
UAE Ministry of Foreign Trade figures show bilateral non-oil trade between the UAE and Singapore reached $6.54 billion in 2025, marking a 25.3 percent increase from the prior year. The UAE remains Singapore’s largest trading partner in the Middle East, with direct investment flows from the UAE into Singapore totaling $5.12 billion between 2021 and 2025. Roughly 230 Singaporean companies operate in the UAE across sectors including finance, technology and logistics, creating a foundation for deeper financial sector integration.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore has advanced multiple initiatives in digital finance, including Project Guardian for asset tokenisation and a wholesale central bank digital currency test network launched in 2025, an MAS assessment found. For its part, the CBUAE has rolled out national payment platforms such as Aani and Jaywan while developing regulatory frameworks for stablecoins and sustainable finance instruments. Officials from both sides examined how interoperability between these systems could reduce friction in trade settlements and support green bond issuance aligned with common taxonomy standards.
Discussions also touched on capacity-building measures and regulatory coordination to address emerging risks in digital assets and climate-related financial disclosures, according to the Emirates News Agency. The authorities considered potential extensions of existing cooperation to include joint research on technology-driven sustainable finance tools. Such efforts align with wider Gulf-Asia financial corridor developments that have seen increased experimentation with stablecoins for cross-border payments.
The Central Bank of the UAE has pursued similar partnerships with other central banks in recent months, including memorandums covering payments and fintech with institutions in Morocco and Syria that were signed earlier in October 2026, CBUAE statements show. These agreements typically encompass supervisory information sharing, climate risk management and digital infrastructure linkages. The latest talks with the Monetary Authority of Singapore underscore the UAE’s strategy to position itself as a bridge for financial flows between the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
