Central Banks of UAE and Saudi Arabia Release Pilot Report on CBDC Aber Project

According to foreign media reports, the United Arab Emirates and the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia, the largest economies in the Middle East, today announced a report praising blockchain technology, citing plans to 'one year of central bank integrated digital currency (CBDC).

The project is called "Aber" and was first announced in January 2019. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have collaborated to develop "proofs of concept" with the aim of "contributing to knowledge of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) and ledger (DLT) technologies. "The research on this project is a first. The report points out that the name" Aber "means" to cross the border "in Arabic. He pointed out that this not only affects the migration of the project, but also shows the expectation that the project can be completed in accordance with the use of technology.

The report says the project is divided into three phases, gradually expanding the trial to other companies. This project uses digital resources backed by real results to get people to “think more” about issues related to security and traditional payments.

In the end, the Aber project solved all the problems. "Important rules [...] have been respected, notably the difficult environment surrounding confidentiality and distribution, and the need to deal with commercial risks, such as the visibility of Medium's banks on income. Traceability of returns.

The report concludes that the two CBDCs are not "improved performance" for cross-border payments, but that the CBDCs offer "improved procedures that are easier than medium-term payments".

The report also presents some recommendations for future steps in research and policy management, including the use of information technology to improve the security of existing standards, "providing payment based on technology for the information ', and expand Aber to achieve. . future project. With partners in various fields, and the settlement of other assets such as contracts.