Emerging technologies and trade are playing a crucial role in reshaping the future of various sectors, most notably business, finance, and global economies at large. These much-needed advancements are not only disrupting age-old norms and traditions, but they are also creating remarkable opportunities for innovation, and efficiency not to mention exclusive growth.
The overall importance of these emerging technologies and trade cannot be overemphasized. Due to their disruptive nature, emerging technologies, for instance, have the ability to not only alter business models and industries but also help businesses boost their overall competitiveness.
This approach can also help organizations to mitigate risks associated with technology obsolescence and market disruption. This, in turn, enables them to stay ahead of the competition by accurately anticipating changes in consumer behavior and market dynamics.
Other notable benefits include global connectivity and greater efficiency particularly in trade as new technologies help to streamline supply chains, reduce costs, and improve transparency across regional and international trade. This also helps to create new opportunities for economic growth and development and contributes to environmental sustainability and social equity.
Just like other industries, the global financial assets and trading industry is also a beneficiary of emerging technologies, which continue to significantly transform the landscape, especially the Middle East, through innovation, efficiency, and enhanced customer experiences.
Adoption in the Middle East
Recognizing its importance and long-term impact, the Middle East region’s stance on technology adoption, coupled with significant investment and support from key stakeholders, positions it strategically as a leader in leveraging emerging technology to drive its economic growth.
Emerging tech such as artificial intelligence (AI) has become a game changer in trade and trading largely due to its ability to open new horizons for automated trading operations. Enabling simplified paperwork, faster customs clearance and compliance checks, reduced manual human errors, and AI-driven solutions have enabled industry players in the region to speed up the completion of commercial transactions.
To guarantee supply chain transparency, for instance, organizations are now turning towards blockchain technologies to ensure secure and transparent transactions that are more resistant to tampering attempts. From a traditional supply chain perspective, the integration of blockchain-driven solutions, in turn, enables transactions to be tracked in real time and significantly reduces the chances of falling into fraud. Ultimately, this approach helps businesses to cement trust and loyalty with their respective trading partners.
The new 5G communication spectrum is also another disruptive technology that’s impacting industries globally and regionally. Ultra-fast 5G networks are now enabling seamless connectivity between devices, which is enhancing supply chain visibility and enabling real-time decision-making.
In terms of communication, 5G connectivity is facilitating faster data transmission and supporting the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. On its part, IoT is helping businesses to significantly improve their inventory management strategies, forecast demand across key markets, and improve logistics efficiency.
Emerging opportunities
It’s a no-brainer that technologies such as 5G and IoT will open up new possibilities for industries in the region like manufacturing, transportation, and entertainment by facilitating real-time monitoring, automation, and enhanced user and personalized customer experiences.
There are various categories in the financial assets and trading industry that are constantly being affected by emerging technologies globally and regionally. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies, for instance, are entirely digital. Their strength in the market is largely affected by not just regulatory changes and market sentiment, their overall value is also affected by technological developments.
Unique digital assets such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are unique digital assets that represent ownership of digital art, collectibles, and other digital content, is another crucial category of finance and trading that gets affected by emerging tech. The prices of NFTs are bound to fluctuate significantly, based on demand levels, artistic trends, and most importantly, technological adoption.
Others such as special purpose acquisition companies, commodities and supply chain technologies, and forex, rank as top beneficiaries of emerging technologies. Their respective outputs such as exchange rates, pricing, and trading dynamics can, to a large extent, be attributed to the adoption of emerging tech.
Going forward
To support the regional industry in embracing new technologies, industry players must take a few things into consideration. A strategic approach that includes fostering collaborations with development partners and international technology companies, investing in technologies that help companies to leverage technologies like blockchain, big data analytics, cloud computing, and AI to streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and generate new revenue streams, and gradual introduction of seamless technologies that do not overwhelm existing infrastructure or personnel, making it easier to scale up once initial successes are demonstrated
Emerging technologies and trade are poised to become the next big disruption. Their ability to reshape industries and economies worldwide can no longer be ignored but embraced. Their long-term impact spans across innovation, competitiveness, risk mitigation, and sustainable development. It’s not only important to underscore the importance of strategic planning and adaptation in harnessing its full potential; it is crucial for creating an enabling environment for business and also an efficient, safe, and reliable digital ecosystem.
Article by Mohamed Hashad, Chief Market Strategist, Noor Capital
