Financial inclusion summit a success

Business

By MARK HAIHUIE
MORE than 200 people attended the three-day financial inclusion innovation summit this week in Port Moresby.
The participants debated critical topics regarding financial inclusion in the region, Foundation for Development Cooperation chief executive Michelle Curry tsaid
“It has been a wonderful summit and a great opportunity for people across the region to come together and debate some of the critical issues of financial inclusion,” Curry said.
“We could not have done it without the Bank of Papua New Guinea’s immense support for this great event.”
She said participants came from the Pacific Islands countries, the United States, Asia and Europe.
“The summit is a refreshed and elevated focus on the more immediate issues of financial inclusion, the role of digital finance and the digital revolution and the role of accurate data. But I think the key to some of this will be around how do we capture the participation and true involvements of the financially excluded at their community level and really respond to their needs,” Curry said.
“A critical aspect of this that has also been quite new to the summit has been to elevate the role of wealth-creation and the ecosystem that plays into the critical issues that will help address financial inclusion.
“For example, the bigger role of the state, state investment, the regulation and cooperation among multiple players towards creating more sustainable wealth in the region which will in turn benefit the financially excluded.
“Going forward we just need to capitalise on the great interest in the summit and advance the broader macroeconomic topics of wealth creation and the role of the state.”
Curry welcomed the presence of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat secretary-general Dame Meg Taylor to support the summit and the interactions promoted through her presence.