The Banking Executive Magazine - July 2023 Issue

Summits and Valleys IABS The Union of Arab Banks organized its yearly International Arab Banking Summit (IABS), the Euro-Med Eco- nomic and Banking Summit 2023, on 24 to 25 May 2023 in Paris, France. Along with this conference, the Union of Arab Banks and Inter- national Chamber of Commerce joint conference (UAB-ICC) was held on the 26th of May, 2023 at the Interna- tional Chamber of Commerce (ICC) premises in Paris. IABS addressed the global challenges from rising geopolitical tensions, market segmentation, high inflation (in particular energy and food prices), intensifying climate risks, food insecurity, anticipated reces- sion, and mounting public debts. IABS called for boosting cooperation between Euro-Mediterranean coun- tries to pave the way for more sus- tainable collaboration and to harmonize policies for achieving en- ergy and food security in the region, facilitating trade, investment and capital, and partnering in climate-re- lated projects. In parallel, the development and in- creased complexity of financial and banking operations and relation- ships, and the mounting reliance on digitalization and the fast digital transformation, all are giving more importance to Arbitration as an alter- native means to solve financial and banking disputes in the era of the digital economy. In light of this, the Union of Arab Banks was pioneer in organizing in collaboration with the International Chamber of Commerce the forum on the use of arbitration and Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to provide efficient and inno- vative access to Justice in the inter- national banking and trade sectors. The forum discussed the relevance of arbitration in resolving disputes aris- ing in the financial sector in the era of digitalization, mainly regarding smart contracts, automated com- merce, artificial intelligence, cyber- security, and Blockchain technology. ASSESSEMENT OF IMPACT World summits can be classified as geopolitical, economic and finan- cial, strategic, and goal specific (fo- cusing on digital transformation, energy, climate, etc). World summits aim to promote growth, restore balance, bridge ties, and solve challenges facing the world. We assess the impact of summits based on their ability to address world challenges (such as poverty, wars, inflation, energy), their poten- tial to support growth (innovation, in- vestment, technology), and their role as a key driver of change marking a turning point in history. Based on the brief overview of latest world summits we can infer that: • The Group of Seven G7 summit struggled to support Ukraine but failed to deliver the desired impact in addressing challenges and restoring balance in the world. • Davos Summit attempted to bridge ties and support digital world con- nectivity but did not resolve the digital divide gap. • The Arab league summit was a turning point in history by re-estab- lishing ties between Arab coun- tries, but did not draw a clear roadmap to stop the wars and re- balance world power fairly. • China-GCC summit will have a big potential on global supply chain growth. However, it just meets country specific needs and strengthen the power of big na- tions, thus increasing the imbal- ance of power in the world. • The World Green Summit ad- dressed important challenges fac- ing the world for years ahead and should be supported by action at a global level. • The Transform Africa Summit sup- ported digital transformation in Africa and is a good lesson to learn from for other nations striving to emerge from under-development. • The Union of Arab Banks Interna- tional Banking Summit was char- acterised by a high level of novelty raising for the first time the impor- tance of the topic of digital media- tion and arbitration at Arab pan level. Digital mediation and arbi- tration may be key in the future in resolving conflicts in the Arab world. ISSUE 175 JULY 2023 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 45