Heaptalk, Jakarta — Ant International, a digital payment and fintech company, announced its partnership with the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) to expedite business expansion in the Kingdom and the Middle East region.
Through the collaboration, MISA will facilitate Ant International’s expansion initiative to set up an entity in Saudi Arabia, including assistance when applying for licenses and certificates to enlarge and amplify its service offerings. On the other hand, Ant International will leverage the Kingdom to enter the Middle East market further to expand the reach of its payment and financial services.
The partnership is claimed to benefit local merchants of all sizes through the digitalization in payment and fintech. Representatives of both parties, Ant International President Douglas Feagin and the Deputy Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia Eng Saleh Khabti, signed the agreement in Riyadh (05/06).
Boosting financial services sector in the Kingdom
Eng Saleh Khabti conveyed that his party has worked closely with Ant International on its expansion into the Kingdom. This expansion initiative will benefit thousands of merchants nationwide and potentially hundreds of thousands of businesses across the Middle East. “We are seeing tremendous growth in digital payments in Saudia Arabia and we except this trend to continue with Ant International’s expansion which will further boost the financial services sector in the Kingdom,” said Eng Saleh Khabti as quoted by TechNode Global.
Meanwhile, Douglas Feagin stated that the firm sees an enormous opportunity for expansion in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia. This region has been known to support technological innovations and digitalization to empower its businesses. He said, “Through our agreement with MISA, Ant International enters an exciting new chapter of opportunity within Saudi Arabia. We’re delighted to build upon our progress in the Middle East to support merchants’ access to our world class payment solutions and inclusive financial services, providing Saudi businesses with various tools to grow and benefit from international travel and trade.”
In this expansion initiative, Ant International will provide four services for global merchants: Alipay+ cross-border mobile payment and digitalization technology solutions, Antom merchant payment services, WorldFirst digital payment and financial services for cross-border trade, and ANEXT Bank, a digital wholesale bank regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and other embedded financial services.
