UAE takes part in G20 Finance Track’s second GPFI meet

ABU DHABI / WAM

The UAE participated in the G20 Finance Track’s second Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) meeting, which took place virtually. The meeting discussed the Covid-19 repercussions on remittances, future developments and possible solutions to existing challenges for cross-border payments and remittances, digital financial solutions to promote resilience and financial literacy, and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) financing and digital financial inclusion.
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 participating in the meeting. G20 members and invited countries, non-G20 GPFI invited members, representatives of international organisations and the GPFI’s affiliated partners attended the meeting, which was held under the Italian presidency of the G20 this year.
During the meeting, the UAE G20 team reviewed the UAE’s global competitiveness in low-cost remittances which is one of the important goals of the G20 and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
The team also reviewed the country’s second place global ranking on the list of exporters of remittances, noting that what the UAE has been able to achieve in this area is due to advanced digital infrastructure and
interconnected payment networks available in the nation’s financial sector. The UAE also called for greater global collaboration on exploring the use of stablecoins and blockchain networks to enable faster, cheaper and more secure transactions.
The UAE also pointed to the importance of maintaining flexible legislative systems for consumer protection in order to facilitate the provision of new financial channels capable of reaching people outside the financial system in developing countries, as well as accelerating innovation in the field of financial technology. Additionally, the UAE stressed the need to build effective partnerships with the private sector, because of their positive impact on enhancing financial flexibility and raising the level of digital financial inclusion alike.
At the end of the meeting, the attendees reviewed the progress made on the reports that are being prepared by the GPFI this year, with an agreement to continue providing support until the reports are completed. Also, the members agreed to continue to provide support as the reports progress. The final version of the GPFI reports are planned to be delivered before the third and final GPFI meeting of the year on the October 4.