Koba Gvenetadze, Governor of the National Bank of Georgia, attended a forum on July 1, organized by the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC), the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. Being part of the Astana Finance Days, the event focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and financial inclusion issues.

Governor Gvenetadze spoke about innovative solutions to promote financial inclusion, challenges and ways to address them during the panel discussion, noting that the development of innovation and financial technologies plays an important role for access to finance.

"The National Bank of Georgia established the Department for Financial and Supervisory Technologies to support the financial technology sector 2 years ago. The Department focuses on innovative financial products, services and business models and is committed to encourage the creation of a Fintech-friendly ecosystem in Georgia. Our Digital Banking Framework is intended to promote innovation in the banking sector. The introduction of an Open Banking Framework is also one of the pillars for the development of Fintech companies and innovative banking products, which, we think, can play a crucial role in the development of the Fintech industry in Georgia. The considerable improvement of the supply of financial services is evident and that was achieved through new technologies and innovations. It is important for all customers to have access to these services, and we are here, as the regulator, to safeguard the transparency of these products, data security and financial stability, "- Governor Gvenetadze noted.

Sharing their Fintech experiences, the representatives of the financial sector of CAREC member countries, ministries of finance, central banks, financial regulators and the private sector talked about innovations that could make financial inclusion more effective and affordable.