After successfully weathering the global financial crisis, the Middle East banking sector is poised for growth, a top UAE official aid.

This in light of widespread regional market reforms and global structural changes favouring the region, Central Bank vice-chairman and Dubai International Financial Centre governor Dr Omar bin Sulaiman said.

"During a period of great strain on financial systems across the globe, markets, governments, regulators and institutions here in the Middle East have responded professionally and appropriately, working in concert to steadily bring this region through the most serious test ever of its systems and structures," he said during the opening keynote address to the Banking Outlook Middle East 2009 conference, which opened yesterday in Dubai.

"The legacy of this experience is improved policymaking and more powerful monetary policy tools," he was quoted as saying in a report in our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News.

"We now are in a position to declare with a great deal of confidence that the region has successfully passed through the worst of the crisis without experiencing any systemic risks.

"This is a great accomplishment and speaks well about the future of this region and this industry," he said.