The Centre for Law and Development (CLD), which is part of Qatar University’s (QU) College of Law (LAWC) participated in high-level discussions as part of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Taskforce on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which was held in Singapore yesterday.
Under the auspices of the UN Secretary General, Mr. António Guterres, the taskforce was established to identify strategies for harnessing the power of financial technology for the benefit of people and the planet. The taskforce is set to present its final report to the UN Secretary General in early 2020.
The taskforce consists of central bank governors, CEOs from banks and FinTech, as well as other industry thought leaders. The event in Singapore explored the findings of the taskforce to date with a particular focus on mobilizing financing for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Director of the CLD, Dr. Jon Truby and CLD Section Head of Law and Policy Dr. Andrew Dahdal both attending the meeting representing QU. In recent years, the Centre of Law and Development has been particularly active in the financial technology space.
Dr. Jon Truby commented on his participation saying, “It was an honor to be invited to participate in such an important event. The participation of the Centre for Law and Development and the College of Law in the taskforce discussion underlines the commitment of Qatar and Qatar University to helping solve pressing issues of international concern.”
In 2018, a team of international researchers based out of the Centre for Law and Development and led by Dr. Andrew Dahdal was awarded a multi-million riyal grant by the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) under its flagship grant scheme the National Priorities Research Program (NPRP11S-1119-170019). The grant, entitled ‘Fintech and Regtech: Building a resilient, inclusive and competitive legal and regulatory framework for 21st century finance in Qatar,’ examines developments in financial technology and regulatory options for Qatari policymakers.
Lead Researcher on the grant, Dr. Andrew Dahdal commented saying, “Financial technology is not only about the big end of town. The work of this taskforce demonstrates that innovations in financial technology can have trickle down effects that help solve some of the most challenging issues facing the planet.”