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Dubai To Further Virtual Strategies In Metaverse Assembly
The assembly is due to take place in Dubai’s Museum of the Future, where it will connect people with the latest Web3 technology.
Organized by the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF), The Dubai Metaverse Assembly is due to take place on the 28th and 29th of September 2022, launched by Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The assembly will host Facebook parent company Meta and representatives from the World Economic Forum, Mastercard, Emirates, and Accenture. 300 world experts and 40 specialist organizations will also be in attendance at an event that will take place in the Museum of the Future, next to the famous Emirates Towers.
“This global assembly will facilitate synergies amongst the most pioneering and innovative private and government entities, building exciting use cases in web 3.0 and the Metaverse. [the assembly will] bring together policymakers, academia, startups, and corporations to explore these technologies and their impact in the Metaverse,” says Dubai Metaverse Assembly’s director, Hamad Al Shirawi.
The overarching theme is centered around connecting real and virtual worlds, and workshops will advise participants on how to benefit from, and gain capital in the Metaverse to achieve an improved quality of life in both spheres of existence.
The Dubai Metaverse Strategy was announced two months ago by Dubai’s Crown Prince to boost the Emirates virtual footprint and prepare the UAE government for the emergence of the Metaverse by providing an outlet and forum for discussion and collaboration.
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The event is set to host plenty of experienced speakers who will guide the audience through this emerging new technology, introducing them to a market tipped to be worth $30 trillion within the next decade and a half.
“The Metaverse is a promising digital world. We aim to harness this technology to enhance the quality of life in the UAE and across the globe […] We want Dubai to lead globally in adopting the technology of the future, understanding its developments, harnessing its potential, and driving change,” says His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.
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Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget
The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
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