The international bank, HSBC has conducted the first Blockchain transaction for the Middle East Automotive Industry. The transaction was facilitated by the Blockchain platform, Contour, between the Chinese carmaker SAIC Motor and Taajeer Group, the authorized dealer of MG cars in Saudi Arabia.

“The firm’s digitizing at scale implies making customers’ lives easier. With Contour, digitizing means the firm is cutting costs, reducing risk and speeding up trade”

              Chaker Zeraiki, the head of global trade and receivables finance for HSBC UAE.

Local reports claim that the Contour platform made it possible for Taajeer group to import a cargo of cars from SAIC by enabling end-to-end digitization of the credit documentation. This process was approximately 10x faster than utilizing physical documents.

HSBC said that distributed ledger technology has the capability to reduce transaction times from between five and ten days to under 24 hours thus, enabling additional trade to be held between markets.

Because data shared on the network is transparent, Contour’s platform increases the security of the transactions. The platform deploys digital networks using decentralized technologies to speed up data movement across international commerce channels and the world’s current fragmented ecosystems.

“The transaction is a first of its kind in Saudi Arabia where increased digitization is placed in accordance with the Vision 2030 initiative.”

“Blockchain can significantly reduce friction and increase the pace of trade for companies trading with Saudi Arabian entities.”

                            David Leslie, General Manager of the Trade Finance Business at SABB.

The platform intends to digitize $53 billion in global trade finance, according to the study.