Tuesday, 6 September 2022

Governors and Deputy Governors
Delegates from South Asian member institutions,
Colleagues from AFI management unit,
ladies and gentlemen,

Good day and warm welcome to the 2^nd SARFII Leaders Roundtable which is being held at the GPF 2022. I would like to thank our co-host Central Bank of Jordan for co-hosting this event and providing for these excellent arrangements

It is a pleasure to have this leaders RT in-person after our virtual meeting which was held in Nov 2021.

It is indeed great to see the journey of SARFII over the last 18 months and as an outcome of guidance from the regional leaders, extensive consultations, and discussions here we are today to witness the launch of the South Asia Region Financial Inclusion Initiative (SARFII) at the Global Policy Forum.

First of all, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the Chair – Maldives Monetary Authority and Vice chair – Nepal Rastra Bank for taking up the leadership position for SARFIIs first term (2022-2024) and set the direction for the next phase of accelerated growth for financial inclusion policy, intervention, and outcomes in the South Asia region in collaboration with AFI Management Unit.

With over 150 million people financially excluded, gender gap which is higher than the global average and adverse impact of climate change in the region, AFI is well positioned to enhance regional cooperation on financial inclusion and facilitate implementation of smart and practical policies to life through AFIs unique peer to peer learning platforms

Regional initiatives enhance the network’s ability to support its members working on specific regional priorities, sharing regional knowledge and translating global financial inclusion issues into practical implementation at the regional and national level. AFI currently has five regional initiatives which includes sub–Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Pacific Islands, Eastern Europe and Central Asia and the Arab region. At AFI we are delighted to work hand in hand to advance regional financial inclusion objectives of the South Asian member institutions through SARFII which will be the 6^th Regional Initiative in AFI and the first of its kind in Asia.

The main objective of today’s leaders RT is to sign the SARFII charter and discuss, share and develop concrete recommendations on the SARFII action plan for advancing financial inclusion agenda in the South Asia region.

On this note, I wish to thank you all once again for your commitment to this Regional Initiative and look forward to working with member countries bilaterally and through the regional initiative to enhance and/or develop innovative policy solutions which will further advance the financial inclusion goals in the region.