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Treasury Beyond Borders - Gateway to growth: The Middle East’s evolving financial ecosystem
650 Plays2 days ago
How is the Middle East redefining its role as a trade and finance hub connecting Asia and Europe?
Join Karan Khanna, Managing Director, Head of Corporate Sales, Markets & Securities Services, HSBC Bank Middle East and Hani El Khoury, Head of UAE Sovereign Wealth Funds, HSBC Bank Middle East as they discuss the region’s growing role in global trade and outline the latest trends and opportunities - from treasurers embracing innovation to managing risk and seizing opportunities, and from FX volatility to ESG finance and digital transformation.
Find out more here. https://www.business.hsbc.com/en-gb/insights/market-and-regulatory-insights/treasury-beyond-borders-rewriting-the-middle-east-playbook
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Transcript
Introduction to HSBC Global Viewpoint Series
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to HSBC Global Viewpoint, the podcast series that brings together business leaders and industry experts to explore the latest global insights, trends, and opportunities.
00:00:13
Speaker
Make sure you're subscribed to stay up to date with new episodes. Thanks for listening. And now onto today's show.
Middle East Financial Ecosystem: Growth Gateway
00:00:22
Speaker
Welcome to this special TMI podcast series in collaboration with HSBC called Treasury Beyond Borders, Balancing Risk and Opportunity Through Global Growth. I'm Eleanor Hill, Editorial Consultant at TMI, and over the course of this series of podcasts, I'll be exploring how global treasury is evolving and geopolitical shifts in digital transformation.
00:00:42
Speaker
Across the episodes and with insights from HSBC experts, we'll dive into key themes both globally and across different regions, from managing risk in uncertain markets to leveraging new trade corridors and emerging technologies.
From Oil Dependency to Innovation
00:00:55
Speaker
This episode, we're looking at the Middle East's evolving financial ecosystem as a gateway to growth. And to do that, I'm delighted to be joined by Karen Kanner, who is Managing Director, Head of Corporate Sales, Markets and Security Services, HSBC Middle East.
00:01:11
Speaker
and Hani El Khouri, Head of Sovereign Wealth Funds, UAE HSBC. So welcome, guys. It's really great to have you with us. And I know we've got so much to talk about, but let's kick off with a bit of a bigger picture as to what's happening in the Middle East and how it's redefining its role as a trade and finance hub.
00:01:30
Speaker
Firstly, and all goes without saying thank you for having Hani and me on this session. It's a pleasure. and The Middle East is no longer just an oil story. It's becoming one of the world's most dynamic business frontiers, making it difficult for any corporate to ignore the business opportunity.
Economic Reforms & Mega Projects
00:01:44
Speaker
Just to give some statistical evidence, real non-oil GDP in the GCC has grown by greater than 4.3% over the last two years, outpacing the global average of real GDP growth, which was around 2.8%. The region is already proving itself to be a serious contender on the global economic stage. Mm-hmm.
00:02:02
Speaker
It strikes a unique balance between strategic geography, resources, and ambitious economic reforms. Take the GCC, for example. These countries are rewriting their playbook, shifting from oil to innovation.
00:02:14
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They're betting big on sectors like tech, finance, logistics, and tourism. yeah Saudi's vision 2030 is reshaping the landscape with mega projects like Neom.
00:02:25
Speaker
The UAE is doubling down on diversification through its We the UAE 2031 vision, aiming to become a global hub for investment, digital economy, and sustainability.
00:02:36
Speaker
Across the region, these national visions are more than just policy. They're actually backed by some serious capital and mindset geared towards global relevance. Simon William, HSBC's senior chief economist, stated in his July 2024 report that capital spending of more than $3 trillion dollars is planned or underway in the Gulf already.
Turkey and Egypt: Trade Gateways
00:02:59
Speaker
Wow. The Middle East is also expanding its financial debt through an active equity capital markets, with rising IPO volumes, especially in the UAE and Saudi, and a deepening debt capital markets backed by sovereign issuances and sukukes.
00:03:15
Speaker
Enlar, today financial incentives in Yui and Riyadh attract global capital by offering business-friendly regulations, free zones, and so on. Yeah. There must have been numerous amount of hedge funds setting up shop in the region as well.
00:03:28
Speaker
The region is today well-positioned and already establishing itself as a preferred region treasury center hub. Oh, absolutely, Karen. I'm having so many more inquiries from treasurers about doing business in the UAE and Saudi. um So we've mentioned parts of that region. And I'm just wondering about countries like Turkey and Egypt. What are you seeing there?
00:03:49
Speaker
There is a unique economic pulse to both these countries that I personally find very energizing. These two regions have a combined population close to around 200 million. And both of them are vital global trade getaways.
Regional Economic Roles & Global Trade
00:04:02
Speaker
Turkey bridges Europe and Asia, serving as a major manufacturing hub and corridor. Egypt's Suez Canal is a critical artery for trade between Asia and Europe as well. I'll keep on using this analogy when it comes to region.
00:04:15
Speaker
One plus one is equal to three, which represents the synergies within the region. So, Turkey provides the industrial muscle. Egypt provides scale, location, and labor. And the GCC on its diversification journey provides capital and energy.
00:04:29
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As the world today, Eleanor, speaks about reglobalization, the Middle East is emerging as a key beneficiary. As companies diversify away from single source supply chains, the region's location connecting Asia, Africa and Europe, its wealth, its ambitions, makes it an ideal hub for multimodal trade routes.
00:04:47
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Let me end this question by saying that the region today is very different and a lot more resilient than it was 10 years back. And I can also tell you it's going to be very different 10 years
Cross-Border Financial and Logistical Hub
00:04:56
Speaker
from now. Absolutely. And I'm sure we should pencil that in and revisit.
00:05:00
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Hani, let's bring you in here. Karen's giving it with us a really good overview of everything that's going on from his perspective. But what are you seeing? Sure. First of all, thank you for having me, Eleanor.
00:05:11
Speaker
Building on Karen's points, there is no doubt the Middle East is going through major structural transformations. I mean, it's repositioning itself from a hydrocarbon centric region into a diversified cross-border trade and financial corridor.
00:05:25
Speaker
And as he rightly said, it is linking Asia, Europe and Africa, whilst also committing significant capital into the Americas, in particular the US. Driven by state-led investment program, multilateral partnerships, infra mega projects, which will touch upon countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar are establishing themselves as cross-border financial centers, logistical platforms and most importantly, cap connectors between the West and East.
Infrastructure and Financial Services Transformation
00:05:54
Speaker
I mean, I can think of two themes that are driving these corridors and these economies and becoming major trade hubs. Number one is a capital intensive theme, which is centered around infrastructure, logistics and transport corridors.
00:06:09
Speaker
I mean, one could think of the UAE's Jabal Ali port. or even DP World, which operates across 75 countries globally. I mean, these act as noble connectors. Or even Saudi Arabia's Neon Port and Oaxacom, which is projected to become a futuristic Red Sea logistics and manufacturing hub.
00:06:29
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Obviously, there's a lot of capital going into these infrastructure mega-projects. Or of course, Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, which are major aviation players and they are connecting the region to the world.
00:06:42
Speaker
The second theme, Eleanor, is a financial services transformation. The region has established financial hubs and they've been created to serving both local and international banks, financial institutions, ultra high net worth individual and also major conglomerates.
00:06:58
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I mean, know when you think of the DIFC, which we all know well, it's now housing around 6,900 active companies. Or ADGM in Abu Dhabi, which has become a major, major hub attracting record capital from ultra-high net worth individual and family offices.
00:07:15
Speaker
Or even Riyadh undertaking a major overhaul and attracting significant capital financially speaking.
Role of MENA Sovereign Wealth Funds
00:07:21
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Or the Qatar Financial Center as well as playing an important role. These hubs have attracted significant institutional capital, and this obviously will push global trade.
00:07:32
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One point which I'd like to also mention, which is relevant to my area, is a sovereign worth funds. MENA Sovereign Wealth Fund manage around $5.4 trillion dollars of assets.
00:07:43
Speaker
And these sovereign wealth fund play a major role in serving their government's international growth agenda. They are also setting up trade agreements. They have embarked on a significant cross-border acquisition spree. And this is all, of course, in serving the region and becoming a major trade
Energy Transition & Corporate Financing
00:08:00
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hub.
00:08:00
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So with deep pools of liquidity, world-class infrastructure, increasingly liberalized financial framework, It is safe to say that the region has become a vital intermediary between the East and the West.
00:08:12
Speaker
Absolutely, Hani. And so many amazing stats there there as well. So thank you for that. One of the things I wanted to come back to and hone in on is energy transition within the region with governments committing to that. So how are you seeing that reshaping corporate behaviours and treasury mandates? I'm thinking some of the areas you mentioned, like the project finance, risk assessment, sustainable funding.
00:08:35
Speaker
And off the back of that, you know with the ESG conversation that's going on globally, are treasurers in the region viewing ESG-linked finance as a competitive advantage or is it still very much in that regulatory requirement bucket, the view from the ground?
00:08:50
Speaker
Great questions and a lot to cover here. Look, I mean, let's cover it across two main buckets. First of all, going to your first question, when it comes to ah the region committing to energy transition, the GCC state-led energy transition commitments i have been seen and honestly noted.
00:09:07
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Whether it's under the Saudi Vision 2030 or the UAE's Net Zero 2050 ambition, as well as Qatar has made several climate pledges, obviously the corporate financing landscape is being reshaped.
00:09:19
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The region is emerging as a regional hub for sustainability linked loans, green bond issuances, but also overall transition finance is happening across the corporate.
00:09:29
Speaker
We're seeing the corporates, the government-related entities issuing their first sustainability financing framework and taking a very active stance towards ESG.
ESG Financing: Strategic Differentiator
00:09:40
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This is a great step forward, Eleanor. Honestly, it's going to have major positive repercussions over the long term.
00:09:46
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I mean, when you talk about actual projects on the ground, I mean, one cannot ignore the mega projects like NEOM in Saudi Arabia or Mastar being the major renewables arm here, which is driving solar and wind projects globally as well as across the region.
00:10:01
Speaker
And these are all projects that are focused on on scaling up hydrogen or even solar and wind investments regionally and globally. Now, when it comes to impact on corporate behavior, which is the main discussion here, we can think of the following few items and how corporate behavior is adapting to ESG. Number one, CapEx and green project pipelines.
00:10:21
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Major energy and industrial players are allocating significant CapEx towards renewable generation, green hydrogen, water desalination and energy storage.
00:10:33
Speaker
Now, even going beyond that, when you look at non-energy corporates within the logistics, construction or real estate, for instance, industry, they are all increasingly embedding green technology to future-proof their operations.
00:10:45
Speaker
As a result, treasury teams are increasingly involved in project pipeline screening to meet their ESG KPIs and metrics. Also, ESG performance integration into financing strategy has become extremely vital and important.
00:11:00
Speaker
And this is also to optimize your liquidity and effects exposure to align your capital structure with sustainability-linked KPIs. It's worth noting that HSBC has played a fundamental role in the region, are working closely with treasurers structuring these SLLs, as I mentioned earlier, green bonds, as well as sukuk issues.
00:11:20
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We have also supported our clients in setting up green financing framework and participating in funding major renewable projects across the region. This is also shown in us supporting ah several issuers in seeking their sustainability ratings.
00:11:34
Speaker
So energy transition is no longer sectoral shift. It's actually reshaping mandates of corporate, treasury and finance teams in the GCC.
Embracing ESG Metrics in Corporates
00:11:42
Speaker
So going back to your second question, regulatory framework is not the reason behind ESG-linked financing, but rather there is a genuine effort, Eleanor, by issuers of all sorts to be proactive and take ESG seriously.
00:11:56
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Across the GCC, treasurers and CFOs are increasingly viewing ESG-linked financing as a strategic enabler and market differentiator rather than tick-in-the-box exercise.
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah. And we're seeing a lot of benefit from adopting such structures or adopting ESG overall. Number one, you're aligning yourself with a global investors mandate.
00:12:18
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Number two, you're tapping into a deep pool of liquidity across both equity and capital markets. And then sophisticated treasurers are even integrating their yeah ESG metrics into the way they see their capital returns. Whether you look at your a weighted average cost of capital or your MPV calculations,
00:12:36
Speaker
Sophisticated treasurers are taking into account how can they push the limit? How can they actually integrate these ESG metrics in order to improve their returns, in order to deepen liquidity, and most importantly, optimize your funding cost, signal to the investor community that there is a corporate transformation.
00:12:54
Speaker
And as I mentioned earlier, unlocking that global liquidity. yeah So the challenge is no longer should we, but how fast can we build those internal
Strategic Treasury Roles & Challenges
00:13:04
Speaker
frameworks? How fast can we adopt ESG?
00:13:07
Speaker
How fast can we put in place all the systems and that platform? Because it has become a must rather than actually should we. Yeah, absolutely. Like you said, it's a competitive advantage for people. And it's so good to hear, honey, that it's not just a box ticking exercise. We definitely see that from a TMI perspective as well. So we have our awards programs and we have a lot of submissions for ESG, sustainability awards, our treasury for good awards, an awful lot coming from the Middle East last year. And no doubt we'll see lots this year. And I was out in Qatar a couple of months ago and the focus on ESG was incredible. so yeah, I Really happy to hear that you're seeing that as well. And thank you so much for that amazing overview of of what's going on ESG wise.
00:13:49
Speaker
So Karen, let's bring you back in here. We've spoken about everything that's going on now and everything that's coming down the line. But let's maybe reflect on some of the longest standing challenges facing treasurers in the Middle East.
00:14:01
Speaker
Give us a sense, for example, of some of the biggest effects and liquidity challenges and why treasurers are still grappling with those. You know, I think we can both agree the only thing predictable nowadays is unpredictability.
00:14:12
Speaker
That's the world we live in. And that's what makes the corporate treasury function even more specialized. I remember a global head of markets and security services, Patrick George, you was on CNBC in May recently.
00:14:23
Speaker
And he spoke about the activity in the U.S. treasury space and how factors such as uncertainty of tariffs, the tax bill, are making the world look closer at the U.S. deficit.
00:14:34
Speaker
Think about it, from 2020, we've had these market themes that have been very difficult to predict. COVID, supply chain disruptions, inflation, the birth of AI, geopolitics, elections, and so on.
00:14:46
Speaker
These themes are difficult to predict, and in some cases, very binary, making even more important for corporate treasury teams to be equipped to manage these risks. Also, not all previous correlations tend to be true.
00:14:58
Speaker
Take, for instance, you know during the times of uncertainty, the normal relationship would be US equities down, yields down, dollar up. It's been a reliable relationship for most of modern financial history.
00:15:09
Speaker
I'm looking at closer in 2025, maybe focusing
00:15:15
Speaker
the reaction was very different. Investors sold treasuries. The 10-year government bond of U.S. went from 4.2% to 4.5 in a matter of a few days. And if I look at the dollar index today, it's posted its worst first half performance since 1973. Yeah. Right.
00:15:30
Speaker
yeah right and Another challenge today is the interest rate environment. And when many countries in the region pegged to the dollar, interest rates tend to kind of follow how the Fed moves. As per corporate risk management survey, interest rates has posed a renewed challenge.
00:15:43
Speaker
Many businesses are still feeling the scars from the sharp rise in interest rates in the wake of the pandemic.
Expanding Trade Corridors & FX Challenges
00:15:49
Speaker
Today, the rates environment is very different from what it was in the last decade. Gone are the days of low interest rate and low volatility.
00:15:56
Speaker
I still remember two phrases. One is Jerome Powell using the word transitory forward inflation. And then Powell stating in May 2022 that hiking 75 basis points is not something the Fed was actively considering. And then for the next four Fed meetings, you had four 75 basis points hikes.
00:16:14
Speaker
And this inflation move actually caught organizations on the wrong foot. Coming back to FX and referring to the first question around trade corridors, so and as as you can imagine, as trade corridors grow, you would expect a growth in FX volumes as well. Yeah, yeah.
00:16:29
Speaker
Take the increased presence of Asian contracting companies working on the region's infrastructure projects, which both Hanimi spoke about. These contracts generate FX flows between the country where they're operating and the country where they're based.
00:16:42
Speaker
Now, whether that be capital injections or repatriations, there's an element of FX management which comes into play as well.
Regulatory Changes & Risk Management
00:16:49
Speaker
We are also now seeing Chinese exporters being encouraged to move to RMB invoicing, oil exports being settled in CNY.
00:16:58
Speaker
And while these are just examples, these reflect emerging trends in the region. and Another challenge is the lack of FX liquidity in currencies. And it's difficult to generalize because market debt in different countries are different.
00:17:11
Speaker
But as you can expect, corporates would find it challenging when liquidity is thin. Take corporates in Egypt, for example. You know, they all face dollar liquidity issues from March 22 to 24.
00:17:21
Speaker
It was triggered by foreign outflows from the domestic market, which is mainly on the back of global risk of mood and geopolitical tensions. Today, with recovery in the process, clients can actually leverage instruments like FX forwards to mitigate the FX and liquidity risk for their trade flows.
00:17:37
Speaker
And lastly, maybe to spend some time on regulatory requirements. And these two will have an impact on corporate treasurers. Now, they need to be agile with their hedging strategies. In some cases, decide whether they want to hedge onshore or offshore. Take Turkey, for example.
00:17:50
Speaker
Corporates have had to navigate high inflation and changing regulatory environments for the last couple of years. They appointed a new economic management With that, there was a switch to orthodox policies, and previous regulations introduced were either amended or canceled.
Digital Treasury and Blockchain Innovations
00:18:03
Speaker
Today, I traveled to Turkey quite a bit, and I can already see many corporates now employing a dedicated risk management team to corporate rapid shifts in regulations and liquidity policies. There's so much going on. Honey, off the back of everything that we've covered there, Karen gave us a great overview of things that are going on with FX, for example. How are like digital treasury and trade solutions playing into this? Are you seeing growing interest in innovations like stable coins, for example, on the FX piece? And how do you see corporates actually exploring these rather than just the theory of it all?
00:18:35
Speaker
There is a growing interest and institutionalizing interest in digital treasury trade solutions, as well as blockchain based innovations. And that includes stable coins and tokenized assets, especially in markets across the GCC. And we're seeing that even here in the UAE.
00:18:51
Speaker
I mean, corporates are beginning to experiment with the digital currencies and distributed ledger technologies. And this is not really for efficiency, but rather to future proof liquidity and effects operations.
00:19:02
Speaker
Now, what is driving the digital push? I mean, I can think of two things. don't know here. First, the adoption of a cloud-based treasury management system. Obviously, treasurers are adopting that. And this is really increasing the uptake of a real-time effects exposure management across entity liquidity visibility, as well as automated bank feed and reconciliations.
00:19:22
Speaker
And these are all given, to be honest. That second aspect you can think of, which is really around working capital, especially treasurers are quite worried about working capital management. and optimizing their work. yeah And digitization really plays an important role here.
00:19:35
Speaker
So digitization of trade finance, as well as documentary flows, is really important and is playing growing interest amongst treasuries in this part of the world. Whether you're shifting from paper LCs to digital LCs,
00:19:47
Speaker
or even issuing electronic bills of lading, we're seeing a massive pickup on that front. I mean, even HSBC, and this is really a couple of years back, we've executed blockchain based LC transaction via Contour.
00:19:58
Speaker
And that involves UAE and India counterpart. Now, when it comes to a stable coins as well as tokenization, where are we now? Treasurers are really exploring the use of stable coins.
00:20:09
Speaker
And this is mainly centered around across-border B2B payments, FX settlement reduction, and instant liquidity release. I would like to actually mention one one thing, and this is really fresh.
00:20:19
Speaker
We just launched our very first blockchain-based digital bond in Illinois. And we used our digital assets platform called HSBC Orion. And this is the first off, but we will expect more and more to happen across the region.
AI and Digital Platforms in Treasury
00:20:31
Speaker
So treasury teams in the Middle East are actively experimenting with digital trade and liquidity rates. And there's a growing interest and preference for stable, regulated, blockchain-based solutions over a speculative crypto.
00:20:44
Speaker
As trade corridors through the GCC accelerate, regulatory frameworks mature, we would expect corporates to embed digital finance into core treasury workflows. Yeah, I see more and more corporates looking at it. I know a couple who are using stable coins already for the the reasons that you mentioned.
00:21:00
Speaker
And then the tokenization, the wider digital assets piece. So interesting. And look forward to hearing more about what you've been up to, because like you say, there are the fresh things going on and it's moving at such a quick pace. So we've got lots to look at. look forward to for the future. And Karen, on that note, what would you say the skills and technologies are that treasury teams in the region need to look into, need to invest into what's most in demand so that they can reposition themselves to be even more strategic as all of the this change is happening?
00:21:32
Speaker
Not limiting this to just a Middle East viewpoint. We first need to understand what the future treasury function will actually look like. you know, it's gone way beyond just being a gatekeeper of liquidity or just risk management.
00:21:44
Speaker
But the function today needs to understand what risks are, what the regional complexities are, or which is it getting the appropriate data to influence business decisions at the highest level. Today, a treasury function has become a partner of the business.
00:21:57
Speaker
It has to be both transactional as well as strategic. Take an example of managing foreign exchange, because i know we've talked about this in the previous point. yeah In today's extremely volatile market, what do corporates need, right? They first need to start embracing digital platforms that offer them real-time visibility into currency movements that enable automated, efficient hedging strategies.
00:22:17
Speaker
These tools should also integrate seamlessly with the company's existing treasury systems, providing transparency and agility to make informed decisions. Moving to AI, and I personally believe that AI has the ability to be that genie which can grant more than three wishes, HSBC's latest corporate risk management survey talks about how AI has the potential to reshape the treasury function today.
00:22:41
Speaker
According to HSBC's latest corporate risk management survey, over the next three years, financial leaders expect AI tools to become increasingly integral to their risk management decision-making process.
00:22:51
Speaker
with 61% saying it is expected to be very or extremely useful compared to 38% today. In today's world where corporate clients need quick and reliable access to high-quality data insight, HSBC's own AI Markets platform is designed specifically to meet this need.
00:23:07
Speaker
And I want to talk about this in a bit of detail because AI Markets today completely transforms how corporate clients manage FX and risk. It allows businesses to stay ahead, whether they're tackling currency or interest rate risk.
00:23:19
Speaker
It talks about deeper sector knowledge or looking at local market commentary and insight all in know one easy to use platform. What really sets air markets apart, Eleanor, is HSBC's global expertise and reach.
00:23:31
Speaker
As one of the world's largest banks, we're able to cover and give our corporate client access to exclusive proprietary information that isn't available anywhere else. Productivity is another big focus. And maybe just to break it into three parts.
00:23:43
Speaker
First, intuitive search helps corporate clients find what they need fast. Second, they can even create live dashboards in seconds to monitor metrics that matter to them. And lastly, they can go straight to execution from information.
00:23:56
Speaker
much more of our almost consumer technology experience than rather than the clunky business tech that we're used to in the past. 100%. And AI Markets today empowers corporate clients to make better decisions, move faster, and manage risk more effectively in a world that every second
Building Relationships Beyond Technology
00:24:12
Speaker
counts.
00:24:12
Speaker
Lastly, we also need to understand technology alone is not enough to effectively navigate today's complexities. Corporates need to establish strong relationships with counterparts who can deliver detailed solutions, provide market intelligence,
00:24:24
Speaker
and offer dependable operational support. And that's HSBC for you. So much going on. And like you say, all of the dependable side, but the global reach as well, which all comes together. So if Karen, with everything we've spoken about in this podcast, we've given our listeners so many things to think about already. How would you wrap that all up? What are your key takeaways for them?
00:24:44
Speaker
First thing in all, I just want to say that both on Hani and my behalf, it was a pleasure being here. And thank you for the opportunity to share our views. With expanding economies, increasing capital flows, and increasing global relevance, the Middle East is full of opportunity.
00:24:59
Speaker
But whenever there's opportunity, there lies complexity. And that's where smart treasury leadership matters. What used to be a choice is now a core business function. So my few housekeeping rules for today's corporate treasurers.
00:25:11
Speaker
One, there's no one-size-fits-all strategy in fast-moving markets across the world, inclusive of the Middle East. What works today may not work tomorrow. Treasurers need to be adaptable and dynamic.
Data-Driven Treasury Leadership
00:25:21
Speaker
It's not just about finance anymore.
00:25:23
Speaker
They've got to be in sync with all other departments, whether it be sales or procurement, for example. They need to understand what's coming down the pipeline. You also need to have a well-stocked draw of tools, you know, from traditional hedging instruments to more flexible approaches like optionality to ensure you're able to respond quickly to shifting market conditions.
00:25:41
Speaker
Focus on practical, business-aligned risk management. Stay ready to adjust. Secondly, at the risk of sounding very fetish, get data dependent. like Risk is never static.
00:25:52
Speaker
Make it at a habit to check data. Relook at exposure and stay alert to shifts in the market. Lastly, be open to change. Just the way Middle East is embracing innovation, and Hani referred to this quite a bit, treasures need to evolve.
00:26:06
Speaker
Find new ideas and challenge old habits. Don't be afraid to rethink your playbook. The world isn't getting simpler. Your strategy shouldn't stand still either.
Opportunities and Complexities in the Middle East
00:26:15
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. I love that, Karen. And it's all about that agility. And it's not just tech, it's the mindset and bringing the people along for that journey as well. So thank you so much for that.
00:26:25
Speaker
And thank you both for coming on the show, sharing your insights from the region. And that's a a wrap for this episode of Treasury Beyond Borders. Thanks to everyone for tuning in. And if you enjoyed this discussion, and be sure to subscribe and stay updated on the coming episodes and watch out for the articles accompanying this city series as well. But for now, thanks again to our excellent speakers and thanks to everyone for listening.
00:27:01
Speaker
Thank you for joining us at HSBC Global Viewpoint. We hope you enjoyed the discussion. Make sure you're subscribed to stay up to date with new episodes.