HYDERABAD: The second meeting of the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) took place on March 6 and 7, and was led by GPFI CoChair and Indian presidency.
The meeting saw participation from Ministry of Finance and Central Bank representatives from G20 and non-G20 countries and International organisations, including GPFI implementing partners and affiliated partners.
India, Italy Co-Chairs
During the meeting, India and Italy were announced as the new GPFI CoChairs. The two have been selected for a period of three years and their tenure will commence from 2024. During the plenary session, the GPFI members discussed and agreed on the way forward for important deliverables for the year, including those on Digital Financial Inclusion and SME Finance.
A dedicated workshop was also organised for the development of GPFI Financial Inclusion Action Plan (FIAP) 2023, which will guide the financial inclusion work under G20 for 2024-26.
A symposium on digital innovations in payments and remittances was also held. The symposium hosted a panel discussion on Harnessing Digital Innovations in Payments Systems for Financial Inclusion, Resilience, Productivity Gains, and Inclusive Growth.
Exchange of experiences
It resulted into a fruitful exchange of experiences and understanding on the development of a robust payment system for advancing financial inclusion, resilience, productivity gains and inclusive growth. The GPFI meeting was preceded by a Knowledge and Experience Exchange Programme for the Emerging Economies of the Global South.
Global South engagement
This engagement with the Global South is in line with the overall theme of India’s G20 presidency i.e. One Earth, One Family, One Future. The exchange programme was addressed by Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Chief Coordinator, G20 India; Ajay Seth, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance; Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Department of Industries & Commerce and Department of Information Technology, Government of Telangana, along with other experts from India and international participants.
To enhance the understanding of the participants on the role of digital financial ecosystem based on DPI to accelerate financial inclusion progress, experts from India, including those from the Ministry of Finance, Reserve Bank of India, National Payments Corporation of India and the Unique Identification Authority of India, shared the Indian experience in transforming the financial inclusion landscape by leveraging DPIs.
