Trade between United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Norway amounted to US$ 339 million (AED 1.2 billion) in 2009, which is a growth of 334.6 percent over five years (2005-09). This makes UAE one of the most important markets for Norwegian companies in the entire Asia and Africa region.
Technological innovations will be one of the key highlights of the high-profile delegation visit by HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway to UAE. During the visit, His Royal Highness, accompanied by members of the delegation, will preside over the conference on ‘Partnership between UAE and Kingdom of Norway in Competence and Sustainable Technological Solutions,’ taking place in Abu Dhabi and Dubai on 13th and 14th April respectively.
A key player in the region, Luup International Ltd, a leading mobile payments solutions provider of Norwegian origin, along with its partner, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), will present on mobile payments. The two companies will give insights into the current scenario and how to take advantage of the mobile device at the session on ‘ICT Solutions for the Future in Media and Mobility.’
NBAD along with Luup are rolling out the region’s first mobile money transfer service across an international network. This was in addition to the popular NBAD Arrow mobile payments service via Luup’s mobile payments (m-payment) platform.
Ahmed Al-Naqbi, Senior Manager, Channels and Electronic Banking Services at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) said, “Our partnership with Luup demonstrates our progressive mentality in adopting global technologies and services to serve our customers even better. With successful platform deployment experience in Europe, Luup has the infrastructure, technology and business know-how that matched NBAD’s criteria and needs.
NBAD Arrow service, an SMS based payment service, allows customers to access their bank accounts via mobile phones to pay, send and receive money 24 hours a day.
“As the UAE’s number one bank, NBAD keeps up to speed with the latest banking technology to provide customers with a fast, secure, reliable and convenient banking experience,” Al-Naqbi added. "The coming months will witness new solutions to support the UAE’s Payroll (wage protection) legislation, e-Dirham, and much more".
Morten Hofstad, Regional Director MENA, Luup said, “We are constantly working on enhancing our partnership with NBAD by providing them with cutting edge technology.”
At the Royal visit Emirati and Norwegian business communities meet and exchange ideas on latest developments, particularly within ICT, maritime, oil and gas sectors.
