News

Web Summit Expands With New Middle East Event In Qatar

Thousands of attendees from around the world will gather at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in March 2024.

Published

3 years ago

April 6, 2023

web summit expands with new middle east event in qatar

Today, the world’s largest technology conference, Web Summit, announced the launch of a new event in the Middle East, titled Web Summit Qatar, to be held at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC) in March 2024.

The tech expo will be the first of its kind in Qatar, and will bring together thousands of entrepreneurs and investors from around the globe, as well as the next generation of startups disrupting the tech landscape.

The Middle Eastern event is part of Web Summit’s ongoing strategy to widen its reach into new regions and economies, and will provide a wealth of opportunities to connect the global tech community.

After receiving bids from several regional cities, Web Summit chose Doha as the new event’s host. Web Summit plans to deepen existing relationships in the region through Web Summit Qatar, which will run for at least five years.

Also Read: A Guide To Digital Payment Methods In The Middle East

“Web Summit in Lisbon has become the world’s largest technology conference, and our ambition is to make Web Summit ever more global. Establishing a new event in the Middle East is part of that broader plan for Web Summit,” says CEO of Web Summit Paddy Cosgrave.

Qatar’s technology sector is evolving rapidly, with a thriving start-up scene supported by both the government and the private sector. The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2021 ranks Qatar 28th globally for its capacity for innovation, ahead of other countries in the region. Qatar is a heavy investor in its technology infrastructure, with projects focusing on emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cybersecurity.

News

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.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

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.