Syria, Mastercard Discuss Digital Payments in New York

Syria's Finance Minister Mohammad Yosr Barnieh and Central Bank Governor Mohammad Safwat Raslan met with Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach and senior company officials at the firm's headquarters in New York to discuss cooperation on developing the digital payments system and government financial services.

Meeting Content

The Ministry of Finance said via its Telegram channel that Minister Barnieh presented, during the meeting held on Friday, the ministry's plan for financial management development and digital transformation, as well as plans to upgrade the digital infrastructure of government financial services. The two sides discussed opportunities to benefit from Mastercard's advanced technologies and solutions in support of the ministry's vision.

Areas of Cooperation Discussed

The meeting covered several areas related to digitizing government financial services, most notably:

• Enhancing digital collection of government fees and taxes
• Digitizing government payments and procurement
• Developing the salary and wage payment system to improve efficiency and speed up processing
• Reducing reliance on cash in government transactions

The Ministry of Finance noted that these measures aim to support financial integrity and reduce money crimes in government transactions.

Mastercard's Services in the Syrian Market

The ministry noted that Mastercard, in addition to the payment card services it has launched with banks in Syria, offers modern digital payment technology solutions, including for government payments. On May 7, the company announced completing the technical readiness needed to process international bank card transactions inside Syria, describing it as the first step of its kind in more than 15 years, paving the way for reconnecting the Syrian market to the global payments network.

Context of the Visit

Earlier the same day, the Finance Minister and Central Bank Governor participated in a roundtable meeting on Syria organized by the American Chamber of Commerce at Citibank's headquarters in New York, with representatives from a number of American investment, trade and financial companies and institutions attending.