From September 14–16, 2023, Mumbai will host the fourth G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) Meeting. It will include discussions about the remaining work of the three-year FIAP 2020 project, which is in its last year and is being executed by the GPFI. There will be discussions about the deliverables linked to digital financial inclusion and small and medium enterprises. On September 14, 2023, a symposium on Digital Public Infrastructure for Energising MSMEs was organised in advance of the summit. This is one of a series of side events held by the G20 India Presidency under the GPFI working group on digital public infrastructure and financial inclusion. Shri Ajay Seth, Secretary (Economic Affairs), Ministry of Finance, Mr. Mohamed Gouled, Vice President (International Finance Corporation), and Dr. Arjun Kumar Karki, Global Coordinator-LDC Watch and Former Ambassador of Nepal to the United States, addressed the symposium.
Panel discussions with international experts were held throughout the Symposium on two important themes: "Energising MSMEs for Higher Economic Growth through Digital Public Infrastructure" and "Credit Guarantees and SME Ecosystems." Mr. Matthew Gamser, CEO, SME Finance Forum, moderated the first panel discussion on energising MSMEs through DPI, and the panellists included Mr. Sivasubramanian Ramann, Chairman & Managing Director, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Mr. Ashwini Kumar Tewari, Managing Director, State Bank of India, Mr. B G Mahesh, Co-Founder & CEO, Sahamati, Mr. Michael Jongeneel The insightful conversations gave vital insights into DPI's role in swiftly promoting MSMEs' financial inclusion.
Ms. Nagla Bahr, Managing Director, Loan Guarantee Company (CGC) Egypt, conducted the second panel discussion on loan guarantees and SME ecosystems. Ms. Katrin Sturm, Secretary General of AECM; Mr. Sandeep Varma, CEO of CGTSME; Mr. Homam Hashem, CEO of Kafalah; and Mr. Wooinn Park, Deputy Director of KODIT, were among the panellists.
The World Bank also delivered the G20 Policy Recommendations for Advancing Financial Inclusion and Productivity Gains via Digital Public Infrastructure, which were recently supported by G20 Leaders at the G20 Summit in New Delhi.
Over the next two days, GPFI members will discuss GPFI work on G20 GPFI High Level Principles for Digital Financial Inclusion, National Remittance Plan Updates, and SME best practices and innovative instruments to overcome common constraints in SME financing. As part of the GPFI Meeting, a symposium on "Advancing Financial Inclusion through Digital Public Infrastructure: Empowering Consumers through Digital and Financial Literacy and Consumer Protection" will be held on September 16, 2023.
In a pre-event press conference, Chanchal Sarkar, Economic Advisor, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, stated that it is a remarkable achievement for the GPFI working group because the leaders recently endorsed two significant documents produced by GPFI under the India Presidency, namely the G20 Policy Recommendations for Advancing Financial Inclusion and Productivity Gains through Digital Public Infrastructure.