From 11 to 15 November, a delegation from the Palestine Monetary Authority was in Luxembourg to share with European stakeholders about the state of financial inclusion in the country, and to explore opportunities for collaboration. 

Eyad Zeitawi, Director of PMA’s Financial Stability and Mohanad Salous, Chief of PMA’s Financial Inclusion Division, met with the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, which is providing financial support for an AFI pilot project to help PMA develop and implement policies and regulations focused on digital financial services and gender inclusive finance. 

The PMA team also met representatives from a wide range of actors in the local inclusive finance ecosystem, including the European Investment Bank, ADA Microfinance, Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (LHoFT), Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries, Innpact, Barrier Free Finance Initiative, and Women’s World Banking. 

“PMA appreciates the support from Luxembourg and AFI for funding the Gender project and forsharing experiences. We’re looking forward to continued cooperation with the Luxembourg ecosystem to enhance financial inclusion and digitization, and to empower women,” said Mohanad Salous. 

On 15 November, Mr Salous shared learnings from PMA’s work to financially include forcibly displaced persons at an AFI-organized event during European Microfinance Week, speaking alongside Inés Páez, Head of Financial Innovation and Inclusion at the Superintendency of Banks of the Dominican Republic, Barnaby Willits-King, Research and Policy Director at AFI’s partner organization, GSMA, and independent consultant, Edward Fraser.