Financial inclusion a priority at Asia, Pacific financing for development high-level dialogue

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea, co-hosted the First High-Level Follow-up Dialogue on Financing for Development in Asia and the Pacific on 30-31 March 2016 in Incheon, Republic of Korea.

With over 200 government officials, experts and international representatives, including the Alliance for Financial Inclusion’s (AFI) own Deputy Executive Director, Mr. Norbert Mumba, the meeting provided an important opportunity to gather regional momentum, scale up consolidated efforts and recalibrate the regional financial architecture to lay down a solid foundation for supporting implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Policymakers were able to review commitments under the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and refine their approach to the SGD implementation process for the Asia and Pacific region.

The Chair’s Summary of the meeting, now published on the ESCAP website, gives several areas which participants agreed as being high priority, among these was further investment and support for financial inclusion.

Specifically, the Chair’s Summary stresses the importance of financial inclusion strategies for job creation, poverty reduction and increasing productivity. The Summary also recommends further investment in financial literacy, greater support for micro, small and medium-sized industries and a renewed focus on rural and poorer populations.

The Summary highlights how quickly traditional banking is changing, thanks to digitization and innovations, and emphasizes the importance of creating enabling regulatory frameworks that are specifically tailored to meet the needs and the realities of the environments in which they are applied.

The Summary also takes note of the participants request that ESCAP work closely with AFI, “to promote financial inclusion by enhancing peer learning of innovative policies and technologies” and to support a regional knowledge sharing and cooperation platform.

The United Nations will further discuss approaches to the SDGs and Addis Ababa Action Agenda at the 71st Regular Session of the UN General Assembly. The General Debate will open on Tuesday, 20 September 2016, on the theme, ‘The Sustainable Development Goals: A universal push to transform our world’.