E-dirham services firm to be set up

A company to handle e-dirham services in the country will be set up jointly by the Ministry of Finance and Industry and the Central Bank to ease implementation of the of e-dirham and expand the service to the private sector.

Khalid Al Bustani, assistant undersecretary at the ministry for revenue and budget, told Gulf News the establishment of the company and its responsibilities had been specified by the Cabinet recently.

"The Cabinet had directed the ministry and the central bank to study transferring the e-dirham project to an independent joint company with the Central Bank, to enable specialisation and help extend its services to the private sector.

The venture is currently under serious consideration, he confirmed. "We are carrying out a number of studies with the Central Bank to adopt the most effective and efficient way of setting up the company," he explained.

He said the ministry's e-dirham initiative had attracted the admiration of the private sector. "Many companies have expressed willingness to process client transactions via the e-dirham. Extending services to the private sector will catalyse faster and more effective public assimilation of the broader e-government initiative."

He noted that the e-dirham initiative is the first of its kind in the region.

The e-dirham is operated in three ways: the e-dirham prepaid smart card, the government client card and the e-stamp systems.

The UAE's e-dirham initiative has also attracted the admiration of other countries "who are seeking our support and experience to implement similar initiatives in their countries", added Al Bustani.

He added that there is a great need to conduct educational campaign for users of e-dirham facilities including representatives of companies and members of the public.