SFA, FICCI sign MoU to enhance cooperation at Singapore FinTech Festival 2019

The Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on Monday inked a partnership agreement to share information about FinTech and collaborate on mutually beneficial initiatives that would further the development of the FinTech industry in both countries. 

HE Jawed Ashraf, India’s High Commissioner to Singapore (2nd row, right) and Patrick Tay, Assistant Secretary General, NTUC and MP, West Coast GRC (2nd row, left) witnessing the MoU signing ceremony between SFA and FICCI at the 4th Singapore FinTech Festival 2019. Navita Myer, Director, FICCI Singapore (1st row, right) and Chia Hock Lai, president, SFA signed the MoUs on behalf of their organisations Photo courtesy: FICCI

This agreement was signed in the presence of HE Jawed Ashraf, High Commissioner of India to Singapore, at the opening ceremony of the first-ever Singapore Pavilion at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2019.

Talking about using the FinTech industry to make a global mark for Brand India, the High Commissioner said, "There are a lot of exciting possibilities in this part of the world and I see more and more of India’s young people looking eastward towards this region and how we can build over here. We should be thinking of ourselves as the leaders in the FinTech space and recognise what we can achieve."

HCI Jawed Ashraf makes a point with an Evolute Point of Sales (POS) device. To his left is Parag Mehta, Founder and CEO, Evolute Group at the India Pavillion at the 4th Singapore FinTech Festival 2019. Photo: Connected to India

The fourth edition of the world’s largest financial technology platform will see over 50,000 participants from 130+ countries participate in a host of activities centred around four key topics: Sustainability, Finance and Tech, Future of Finance, Investment and Global Market Opportunities, and Exponential Tech.

“With the rapid rise of new age Fintechs in the Indian market and cutting edge work being done in Singapore, we hope to learn more from each other in the regulatory domain as well as facilitate new collaborations between Fintechs and Financial Institutions in the two markets,” Jyoti Vij, Deputy Secretary-General, FICCI said.

Through this MoU, FICCI and SFA will take forward the significant engagement the two countries have in the FinTech sector and utilise the advantages offered by Singapore being among the largest FinTech markets in the world, a joint statement issued by both organisations said. 

Both parties aim to collaborate for development between Singapore and India by seeking input and opinion from each other in matters relating to the FinTech industry, the statement added.

“In recent years, India has been a country that is spearheading many FinTech initiatives and advancements with a global impact. As Singapore’s FinTech ecosystem continues to grow, we look forward to collaborating for the betterment of the FinTech industry in both countries,” Chia Hock Lai, president, SFA said.

Greater engagement and collaboration between industry bodies in Singapore and India would be necessary for developing a broad-based FinTech ecosystem in Southeast Asia.