Wong sees the pact open up the space for Fintech companies from both countries
Singapore and India have signed an agreement to promote regulatory sandbox collaboration and sharing of non-supervisory related information on Fintech innovation projects.
Wong celebrated the growing partnership between the two countries and called the FinTech Cooperation Agreement a “landmark agreement because it is also the first of its kind for both parties to focus on cooperation through joint regulatory sandboxes”.
Wong said the agreement will open up the space for Fintech companies from both countries to experiment and pilot their innovations, which will in turn help create new jobs and investments.
The agreement was signed by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and India’s International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) on Sept 18.
Wong witnessed the agreement signing while on an official trip to Gujarat.
Under the agreement, MAS and IFSCA will leverage existing regulatory sandboxes in their respective jurisdictions to support experimentation of technology innovations.
IFSCA Chief Technology Officer Joseph Joshy said the partnership will usher in a “Fintech bridge to serve as a launch pad for Indian Fintechs to Singapore and landing pad for Singapore Fintechs to India, leveraging the regulatory sandboxes”.
“The possibility of global collaboration on suitable use cases through a Global Regulatory Sandbox is an exciting opportunity for the FinTech Ecosystem.”
Wong also led Singapore Ministers at the inaugural India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) in New Delhi on 17 Sept 2022.
The new ministerial platform between the two countries seeks to deepen existing cooperation and identify opportunities for collaboration in new and emerging areas.
Wong, on his first official visit to India as Deputy Prime Minister, was joined by Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, as well as Minister for Transport and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S Iswaran.
They met Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Piyush Goyal, Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles.
“The ISMR is a leaders-led forum to explore opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration given the rapidly evolving geopolitical developments in a post-COVID-19 recovery phase and ongoing supply chain disruptions,” said a press statement by Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
“The Ministers affirmed the longstanding and mutually beneficial relationship between India and Singapore, with deep reservoirs of strategic trust.”
The Ministries added that discussions covered a wide range of topics, including food security, energy security, digitalisation, green technology and skills development.
In a Facebook post, Wong said Singapore and India share a strong bond built over 57 years of diplomatic relations, as well as longstanding historical, cultural and familial ties.
“Through this new ministerial platform, we seek to bring our bilateral relations to a new phase,” he added. fiinews.com
