H.E. Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy, participated in the extraordinary G20 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting, which was attended by financial ministers of all G20 member states. The meeting was held virtually under the presidency of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is additionally the host of G20 meetings for the year 2020.

During his participation in the meeting, Al Mansoori stated that digital technologies play a fundamental role in accelerating the international response to the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. H.E persisted that while the countries of the world are becoming a member of forces to deal with the repercussions of the COVID-19 outbreak and tackle the effect of the pandemic on a number of development sectors, most importantly public health and financial sectors, the substantial role of digital technologies and associated policies in driving these efforts have come to the fore.

The meeting mentioned the role of digital technologies in improving business resilience and preserving jobs, lives and the global economy. In addition to placing choices for policies to assist the digital transformation of business models throughout the pandemic period, the improvement of policies for digital infrastructure, ICT-based innovation, ways to harness digital technologies to serve the society, as well as the role of digital financial system in the advent of jobs and spurring financial growth have been additionally discussed.

During the meeting, Al Mansoori defined that the UAE has made excellent development in the area of digital transformation and has adopted Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, and its purposes to drive the progress of the countrys essential sectors.

He added that the country is evaluating the repercussions of the present crisis and methods to radically change present dangers and challenges into possibilities that aid monetary growth and the transition to a more flexible and sustainable monetary model.

H.E similarly elaborated on the most essential measures taken by the UAE to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the business sector and to allow business continuity. The country is capitalizing on its advanced technological and smart infrastructure to make sure business continuity at both governmental and private levels, he said.

Furthermore, the availability of 3,730 federal and local government services online makes the UAE one of the best countries in the world to lead a digital life. In addition, more than 180 smart offerings are additionally available in the country to successfully address the needs of society in various aspects of life, stated the Minister.

Al Mansoori further added that the UAEs readiness in terms of the delivery of smart services has enabled it to keep away from interruptions in government operations and fall down of services. This additionally helped hospitals and medical centres to assist the health sector in imparting many services and adopting precautionary measures. Besides, a broad range of applications are being used to help remote learning efforts, remote work systems, apart from the development of smart platforms to assist the labor market that has been affected by the precautionary measures. This consists of a virtual labor market to register employees of affected companies, so that they can be absorbed by different companies based on the desires of the labor market.

Al Mansoori emphasized that the UAE nowadays has a wealth of experience and visions in the area of digital transformation, and is looking ahead to exchanging those experiences, resources and knowledge with members of the G20 to develop joint efforts in dealing with and overcoming the present day crisis.

The agenda of the ministerial meeting focused on a number of essential axes such as: developing the telecommunications infrastructure; attaining a safe exchange of data and information; exploring methods to strengthen digital technologies for the health sector; increasing the uses of digital technologies and solutions; and growing a secure environment by the internet to improve business flexibility and continuity.