First Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion

 

January 9-11, 2023, Kolkata

 

The first G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) meeting under G20 India Presidency is scheduled to be held during 9-11 January 2023 in Kolkata. GPFI member countries, guest countries and international organisations invited by India, will participate in the two-day meeting to take ahead discussions on the Finance Inclusion agenda under the Indian G20 Presidency.

 

The Finance Track is at the core of the G20 process and provides an effective forum for global economic discourse and policy coordination. It discusses global macroeconomic issues through its meetings of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, their Deputies and various working group meetings.

Some of the key issues dealt by the Finance Track are global economic outlook and monitoring of global economic risks; reforms for a more stable and resilient global financial architecture; international taxation; financing quality infrastructure; sustainable finance; financial inclusion; financial sector reforms and financing for future health emergencies and investments in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.

 

India’s G20 Presidency is grounded in the theme of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” or “One Earth One Family One Future”, which underlines the message of equitable growth and shared future for all. Rising challenges in global economic scenario in the post-COVID-19 period demand a refocusing of worldwide discourse on people-centric issues. Financial inclusion is thus crucial to achieving the goals of poverty alleviation and economic empowerment of vulnerable segments as it positively impacts sustainable and inclusive economic growth. The meeting starts with a Symposium on “Unlocking the potentials of Digital Public Infrastructure for advancing financial inclusion and productivity gains”. This will also involve an exhibition on “Digital innovations for Financial Inclusion”.

 

The Exhibition showcases India’s achievements and efforts in advancing digital financial inclusion and innovatively displays the financial system infrastructure, emerging technologies, interactive financial literacy awareness videos, digital identification process flow for individuals and digital innovations in financial inclusion. The exhibition will showcase innovations / achievements by various stakeholders such as Public Sector Units, Public Sector Banks, Fintech companies, etc. This will be accompanied with a Jan Bhagidari (Domestic Outreach) initiative involving a Seminar on Financial Literacy on January 10, 2023. This will be aimed at educating about 1800 school students on banking, digital payments, insurance, investment, fraud protection and grievance redressal.

 

The GPFI Plenary sessions are scheduled from 10-11 January 2023 with discussions on role of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for advancing financial inclusion, reducing cost of remittances, assessing progress made in implementation of G20 High-Level Principles for Digital Financial Inclusion and advancing financing for MSMEs. India’s G20 Presidency is committed to leading an agenda that voices the concerns of countries most in need and reflecting the concerns and aspirations of developing countries. The Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India will steer the G20 Finance Track agenda in an inclusive manner aimed at addressing the global economic needs of today as well as preparing for a better tomorrow.