UAE Regulation Lab signs MoU with Futurise to pave the way for regulatory innovation

UAE 13 June 2023 –The UAE Regulation Lab (RegLab), which is under the General Secretariat of the UAE Cabinet, has joined forces with the Futurise Sdn Bhd (Futurise), a Malaysian company under the purview of the Ministry of Finance, to create an agile and conducive legislative environment that pioneers regulation innovation.

In a bid to form a pact to pave a strong foundation for the fast-tracking of new emerging solutions through regulatory sandboxes and other catalytic initiatives in Malaysia and the UAE, the new partners signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will see the leveraging of each other's technical knowledge and experience at various levels.

The MoU signing ceremony which was held in the UAE, saw the signing of the partnership agreement between H.E. Maryam Alhammadi, Minister of State and Secretary General of the UAE Cabinet and Mr. Rosihan Zain Baharudin, chief executive officer of Futurise. 

Her Excellency Maryam Alhammadi, Minister of State and Secretary General of the UAE Cabinet said, “This Memorandum of Understanding will enable us to band together to discuss challenges, innovative approaches and ideas that will amplify our regulatory efforts and achieve global standards and benchmarks in creating a thriving regulatory innovation ecosystem which will truly transform the sector”.

Aside from active discussions around strategies to foster a conducive environment and enable functional and unhindered cultivation of new technologies for entrepreneurs and businesses in the two countries, the agreement also enables the coordination between both parties to explore cross-border collaboration and research and development (R&D) initiatives.

Rosihan Zain Baharudin, chief executive officer of Futurise said that the partnership marks a pivotal step forward in positively impacting our nation’s innovation landscape and achieving our National Investment Policy and the MyDIGITAL aspirations. 

“We are thrilled and honoured to be working hand-in-hand with UAE Regulations Lab to put in place all the building blocks essential to galvanise Malaysia’s technological ecosystem. This will help us in refining a lot of our initiatives at Futurise and steer us in the right direction by looking at best practices in other nations. Our combined knowledge bank with UAE Regulations Lab will symbiotically build a strong foundational layer for both nations to tap into and open up endless possibilities for more dynamic innovative solutions to come to fruition.”

The partnership will also activate co-research activities on vital areas of common interest such as the design, development and management of regulatory sandbox programmes and open innovation platforms for numerous industries. This will drive the experimentation of regulatory solutions that can be replicated, localised and scaled for use depending on the needs of the ecosystem. 

The MoU signing ceremony was followed up with panel discussions and presentations by industry experts on various mobility topics organised by UAE Regulations Lab. Stretched over three days, the visit to the UAE by the Malaysian delegates also featured meetings and networking sessions with ecosystem bodies within the UAE to provide access and exchange necessary to promote discussions and collaborations that will revolutionise the future of mobility.