The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) hosted representatives of the Bank of Korea (BOK) and a delegation from the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Corporation (KFTC). During the meeting, the parties signed a bilateral cooperation agreement under the Knowledge Partnership Program (KPP).

On behalf of the National Bank of Georgia, the agreement was signed by Ekaterine Galdava, Vice Governor of the NBG.

The 2026 program is dedicated to the topic: "Open Banking and Open Finance as a Competitive Alternative to Traditional Payment Infrastructure." The project's objective is to share international experience with Georgia in the development of an open finance ecosystem and to support the development of the corresponding regulatory, institutional, and technical framework.

During the meeting, Natia Turnava, Governor of the National Bank of Georgia, emphasized the importance of the cooperation between the NBG and the Bank of Korea. According to her, the joint project implemented in 2025, which focused on the development of Georgia's cashless payment system, made a significant contribution to assessing the country's payment infrastructure and identifying its future development priorities.

The NBG Governor also highlighted the NBG's initiatives aimed at fostering the development of an innovative financial services ecosystem. She noted that establishing a modern digital financial environment remains one of the NBG's key priorities. As part of this effort, several important reforms have been implemented in recent years, including the establishment of an open banking framework, a licensing regime for digital banks, a regulatory framework for virtual asset service providers (VASPs), and a legal framework for the issuance of stablecoins.

"Over the past 12 months, open banking services have been used more than 9 million times in Georgia, demonstrating that the system has already become a reliable foundation for everyday digital financial services. Our next step is the development of open finance, which will enable broader and more secure sharing of financial data based on customer consent. In this regard, Korea's MyData model stands out as one of the world's most successful examples, and its experience will be particularly valuable for Georgia," said Natia Turnava.

Under the Knowledge Partnership Program, Korean experts will work alongside the NBG's team to develop the concept for Georgia's open finance ecosystem. The project includes sharing international experience, analyzing Georgia's legal and regulatory environment, and developing the open finance model and ecosystem architecture, a phased implementation roadmap, data-sharing mechanisms, consumer protection and governance frameworks, as well as technical standards.

Furthermore, the project will include working meetings with the Bankers’ Association of Georgia, commercial banks, fintech companies, and other representatives of the financial sector. Throughout the year, the program will continue with interim seminars, capacity-building activities, and a concluding event, where the final research findings and recommendations for the development of Georgia's open finance ecosystem will be presented.