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FinTech strengthens Singapore-Chongqing relations

One way to boost connectivity between nations is a FinTech deal. FinTech is one of the four ways Western China and ASEAN can collaborate, according to a keynote address by Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

He was speaking at the inaugural Singapore-China (Chongqing) Financial Summit themed “Open-Innovative-Connected-Mutual-Strengthen Financial Connectivity to support services along the Belt and Road”. Attended by more than 500 government officials, financial sector professionals and corporate leaders from China and Southeast Asia, the Summit provided an avenue for collaboration on cross-border financial and infrastructure connectivity between Western China and Southeast Asia. One of the dialogues were on innovative cross-border financial services. A fielded topic included FinTech for inclusive development and growth opportunities.

Ten Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) were signed. Two of which were FinTech related.

FinTech Deals

A four-party MoU was signed at the Summit. The MoU will catalyse FinTech cooperation between Chongqing and Singapore. Detailed in the MoU are enterprise and talent exchange, the establishment of an incubator platform and a regular communication mechanism.

Separately, an MoU between OCBC Bank, Xiaomi Inc, and Hanhua Financial Holding Co. will be signed. Partners will explore FinTech collaboration in retail and institutional financial services in China. Through this collaboration, more than 300 million Xiaomi retail customers and business partners will have access to innovative financial services.

Connectivity: A Plan of A-Tech

Connectivity between the regions are important to strengthen trade and investment connectivity. Over the years, trade and investment linkages between China and ASEAN have been deep and continue to show signs of growth. On average, bilateral trade between China and ASEAN has increased by 13% p.a. since 2005. China is also ASEAN’s biggest trading partner and its third-largest source of foreign direct investments. Deeper collaboration among China and ASEAN are important to ride against the waves of external trade protectionism and sustain Asia’s dynamism and long-term growth.

A potential application of technology solutions as suggested by Menon is along the Southern Transport Corridor (STC). STC is the latest rail-sea transport corridor between China and Southeast Asia. By connecting Western China and Southeast Asia, the STC can potentially shorten the time taken to transport goods between China and ASEAN to one week. This is compared to a two to three week wait period when using other routes. Time saved will have spill over effects into raising the level of trade and investment activities between the regions.

Despite the new shortened route Menon is insistent that the trade processes should be as smooth as possible. Currently, logistics are hindered by customs, trade documents handling, fraud checks in trade finance and ensuring goods are delivered timely and without damage. Menon said friction downstream is because of manual and paper-based approaches to trade and trade finance.

“We need to have end-to-end digitalisation of trade processes.”

FinTech applications are a good solution to make the STC hassle free, safe, and cost efficient for all stakeholders, said Menon.

Chongqing will be developing a FinTech experimental and demonstration zone in the Western Region. Calling it timely, Menon believes such a zone can serve as a source of technology solutions for the successful development of the STC. Currently, several players have embarked on initiatives in this area.

One company uses a cloud-based platform to sync and share information across various parties from trade, logistics and supply chain. An ecosystem of stakeholder is built, and cross-border trade becomes simplified.

Menon said, “There is great scope to leverage on technology to strengthen connectivity between the Western Region and ASEAN.”

Concluding, Menon expressed, “Let us continue to scale new heights and explore new frontiers of collaboration, for a more connected and prosperous Asia.”

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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