India and Philippines sign MoU to strengthen FinTech cooperation

By Gloria Methri

The Philippines and India have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in a bid to enhance FinTech cooperation between the two countries.

The MoU will help establish a joint working group on financial technology, co-chaired by the Philippines’ Department of Finance (DOF) and India’s Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance.

The MOU directs the constitution of a Joint Working Group (JWG) on FinTech chaired by the Philippines’ Department of Finance and India’s Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.

The joint working group is expected to facilitate inter-governmental discussions on the exchange of best practices to improve policies and regulatory connections and promote cooperation in the development of FinTech solutions for the business and financial sectors.

It also hopes to develop international standards by encouraging the creation of an international version of Application Programming Interfaces (API).

“On the one hand, India is a rising economic powerhouse, with a forte in digital technology. On the other, the Philippines hosts a young and tech-savvy talent pool that can provide the intellectual capital needed to succeed in the digital economy. Clearly, the possibilities between our two economies are boundless,” said Benjamin Diokno, finance secretary of the Philippines.

“In India, for the past seven years, we have seen exponential growth in digital payments. Currently, we are at the level of a hundred billion digital payments a year, with the flagship UPI itself – unified payments interface – itself becoming one of the primary drivers of a cashless, digitalized economy,” said Shambhu Santha Kumaran, Ambassador of India to the Philippines.

The joint working group will be co-chaired by the Philippines’ DOF and India’s DEA. Members from the Philippine government include the Department of Foreign Affairs, National Economic and Development Authority, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Department of Information and Communication Technology, Securities and Exchange Commission, Insurance Commission, and Philippine Statistics Authority.

On the other hand, members from the Government of India include the DEA, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Union Identification Authority of India, Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India, Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, Ministry of External Affairs, International Financial Services Centres Authority, and Indian Computer Emergency Response Team.

In addition, the Ambassador of the Philippines to India and the Ambassador of India to the Philippines will serve as points of contact and participate in JWG meetings.