Masdar City, the regional home of technology innovation and R&D in Abu Dhabi, and Emirates Development Bank (EDB), a key financial enabler of the country’s economic diversification and industrial transformation agenda, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the advancement of the UAE’s economic diversification agenda. This will be achieved by identifying potential collaboration opportunities across sectors including banking and finance.
Under the agreement, Masdar City and EDB will explore and support the UAE’s financial sector by enabling small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large corporates in the national priority sector.
Masdar City, through its front-line staff, will encourage banking through the EDB Business Banking App at the time of company registrations, while EDB offers priority banking and dedicated resourcing for Masdar City Free Zone customers. Both companies will assist Masdar City Free Zone clients licensed (or to be licensed) with Masdar City Free Zone to open a bank account with the Emirates Development Bank.
The MoU was signed by Abdulla Balalaa, Executive Director of Masdar City, and Ahmed Mohamed Al Naqbi, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Development Bank, at an official ceremony at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.
Commenting on the agreement, Balalaa said, “Masdar City is Abu Dhabi’s only planned and approved R&D cluster, where we are shaping and incubating the sustainable industries of tomorrow. Through this strategic collaboration, we aim to attract more innovation to the UAE through easy financial processes and continuing to grow exciting cutting-edge technologies and innovation in Masdar City. This will further underpin Abu Dhabi’s status as an attractive destination for world-class business owners and innovators to incubate, develop and grow industries of the future.”
Balalaa continued, “Currently, Masdar City is home to more than 1,000 companies that benefit from the City’s unique ecosystem of education, mentorship, technology development and networking, offering a strategic base for companies to establish and grow existing businesses and invest in new ones. With this MoU, we add ease of banking and finance to our existing attractive business model.”
For his part, Al Naqbi said, “In line with our refreshed strategy launched in 2021, Emirates Development Bank has been playing a key role in advancing the UAE’s development of key sectors including manufacturing and advanced technology with a heavy focus on renewable energy and technology. This MoU with Masdar City is proof of our fully aligned approach to further our mandate to diversify Abu Dhabi’s economy. Collaborating with Abu Dhabi’s only approved R&D cluster, Masdar City will continue to grow the sustainable innovation sector of the country.”
“We are very much looking forward to exploring mutual opportunities of interest with Masdar City given our shared vision of positioning the UAE as a global hub for business and development,” Al Naqbi continued.
Masdar City is home to multinational companies, SMEs and homegrown start-ups. The City is committed to advancing the sustainability agenda and spearheading innovations to realize greener, more sustainable innovation and urban living.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Finance World staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
