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Ministry of Finance participates in G20 financial inclusion meeting

ABU DHABI, The Ministry of Finance (MoF) recently participated in the G20 Finance Track’s third and final Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) meeting, which was held under the Italian presidency for 2021 and took place virtually in Rome.

The meeting focused on coping with new (and old) vulnerabilities in the post-pandemic world, and discussed the latest policy recommendations to promote digital financial inclusion. It also reviewed the achievements made on developing fast, secure and cheaper remittances; as well as the new emerging practices of financial consumer protection.

Mariam Al Hajri, General Budget Deputy Manager at Ministry of Finance; along with Thuraya Al Hashemi, Projects Manager at Ministry of Finance, represented the UAE G20 team in the meeting. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the GPFI Honourary Patron, along with Governor of the Bank of Italy, and the Italian Minister of Economy and Finance opened the meeting.

G20 members and invited countries, non-G20 GPFI members, international organisations and the GPFI’s affiliated partners attended the meeting, which was co-chaired by Italy and Russia.

During the meeting, the UAE delegation submitted a proposal on the use of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to modernise the financial transfers system between countries, and enhance objectives of financial security such as privacy, transparency, and protection from cyber threats.

They also initiated a proposal by the Ministry of Finance for the group to accelerate the efforts towards reducing the cost of remittances in line with SDG targets to 3 percent by 2030. The proposal outlined the potential of DLT, including blockchain technology and digital currencies as a solution to traditional payment systems and financial exclusion.

The UAE delegation also emphasised that employing DLT will enable governments to increase consumer protection, and enhance the safety of payment and settlement, noting that these features come with their challenges and present new risks, which needs to be examined by the G20.

The UAE invited all interested countries to support a globally coordinated effort to develop a scalable framework that is responsible to increase global collaboration and drive down the cost of remittances.

The GPFI reports will be raised to Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors for their endorsement.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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