There are a lot of exciting possibilities in Singapore and Indian youth are looking at how they can build startup brands in the region, India’s High Commissioner to Singapore H.E. Jawed Ashraf said on Monday.
Speaking at the inauguration of the India Pavilion at the 4th Singapore FinTech Festival 2019, Mr Ashraf said that India has the potential to become a global leader in the FinTech space and there are a lot of areas where cooperation with Singapore would enhance both nations’ industries.
“Singapore and India have a lot of synergies, I think, in terms of intellectual property rights, financing, access to the market in the region and globally. This is a partnership we are building quite strongly,” he said.
The festival is scheduled from November 11-15 held in conjunction with the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH). This year, over 50,000 participants from 130+ countries are attending the financial technology event to discuss the latest technologies, trends and opportunities in the field.
This year, the Indian delegation at India pavilion at the SFF Exhibition is composed of 12 and 15 fintech companies respectively sponsored by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Mumbai Fintech Hub, making it one of the biggest delegations from any country. The high commissioner also spoke about how advancements in the FinTech sector had led to a fundamental shift in priorities among the young workforce.
“This new generation of millennials in India are far more outward-looking. They are not easily cowed down by other countries or by hierarchies. They are far more eager and self-confident; most of them now want to do something rather than go out and take jobs,” he said.
Mr Ashraf also witnessed the signing of an MoU between FICCI and the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) while co-inaugurating the SFA pavilion along with Patrick Tay, MP and Assistant Secretary-General, National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).
On Wednesday, the High Commissioner will soft launch the first international module of the BHIM-UPI QR based payments system in Singapore by carrying out a live transaction at a merchant terminal at SFF.
“We’ll run it for four days during the period of SFF 2019; dynamic settlement of payments needs to be worked out. We will start with those places which have Indian visitors,” said Mr Ashraf.
This system, jointly developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS) of Singapore, will allow anyone with a BHIM app to make payments at NETS terminals. The service is slated to go live by early 2020.
