Natia Turnava, Acting Governor of the National Bank of Georgia, took part in the event organized by the USAID Financial Innovation Program.

In her speech, Natia Turnava conveyed her gratitude to the USAID and the US Government for their support and invaluable assistance. Natia Turnava emphasized that promotion of foreign investments, trade agreements and provision of technical assistance contributed significantly to the growth of the Georgian economy and the well-being of the people.

Discussing the contribution of the USAID Financial Innovation Program, Acting Governor of the NBG noted that access to diverse investment resources and innovative financial products is of significant benefit to the country's private sector.

"Georgia has all the prerequisites to become a financial innovations hub for the Middle Corridor, in our region. The National Bank of Georgia plays one of the leading roles in developing innovative financial technologies in the country. The NBG has adopted a strategic open regulatory policy-driven approach tailored to the specific needs of the financial system participants. Our goal is to stimulate digitalization within the financial system and to encourage the safe introduction of innovative solutions," Natia Turnava said.

Acting Governor of the National Bank of Georgia focused on several projects, including the Fintech Business Model Mapping project implemented with the support of the USAID team, that identified regulatory barriers to innovations at the legislative level in Georgia.

Natia Turnava also spoke about the "learning by doing" approach, which promotes the development of fintech business models, at the discretion of the NBG. For this purpose, in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Georgia initiated the first Technical Sandbox for Open Banking in the region, which has a diverse range of participants. The Sandbox allows selected fintech companies to test new Open Banking APIs, an opportunity to drive innovation.

As the Acting Governor of the NBG noted in her speech, a well-developed domestic capital market can contribute to the sustainable economic growth of Georgia and promote diversified funding sources for the corporate and household sectors.

"Let me reaffirm the NBG’s strong commitment to the task of developing the capital market. To this end, we will continue productive cooperation with other stakeholders, public and private entities, International Financial Institutions. While the local capital market is still in the early phase of development, it has shown remarkably good progress in the last few years, which, among other factors, is thanks to the initiatives of the Government, the NBG, International Financial Institutions and development agencies. USAID has played a very important role in this regard," noted Natia Turnava, Acting Governor of the NBG, in her speech.

USAID's Financial Innovation Program is a five-year program with a budget of USD 18.9 million. Through the program, USAID contributes to strengthening the country's well-being, security, democracy and Euro-Atlantic integration.