PR84801

BEIJING, July 16, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 at the beginning of this year has taken

unprecedented tolls on people's lives and global economy. The prolonged

interruption in consumption and production has resulted in severe economic

contraction and massive job losses worldwide, and the social inequality has

further aggravated the social conflict. To face the challenges brought by the

worst recession since World War II, many Asian countries have attached

increasing importance to the role of financial inclusion in serving the real

economy, supporting micro-, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs), creating jobs,

reducing poverty, protecting vulnerable groups and alleviating social

contradictions. In recent years, the development of financial inclusion in Asia

has reached or surpassed the average world level.

The term "financial inclusion" or "inclusive finance" was first proposed by the

United Nations in 2005 "International Year of Microcredit", referring to a

state in which all people with financial needs have access to a full suite of

quality financial services, provided at affordable prices, in a convenient

manner, and with dignity for the clients. The concept has since attracted

widespread attention from organizations and countries around the world and

hence been continuously developed and refined.

In the past, traditional financial inclusion services mainly focused on

availability and cost of credits obtained by MSMEs and households. But now,

thanks to the rapid adoption of digital technology, digital financial inclusion

not only greatly extends the service radius of financial businesses, but also

broadens the categories of the services to a much larger extent, from account

opening, payments, deposits, wealth management to loans, insurance and even

commodity futures trading. The basic and upgraded financial needs are all

covered, and can almost be executed through mobile phones while staying at

home. Amidst social distancing caused by the Pandemic, digital financial

inclusion has demonstrated strong advantages. It is expected that, after the

pandemic, clients will be more adapted to contact-free financial services, and

their digitization will be further accelerated.

To further promote the development of financial inclusion in Asia, the Boao

Forum for Asia (BFA) and the Asian Financial Cooperation Association (AFCA)

jointly held the "Roundtable on Ecosystem Building and Digital Development of

Financial Inclusion in Asia" and launched the BFA flagship report "Asian

Financial Development Report on Financial Inclusion" on July2 in Beijing, with  

support of Institute of Digital Finance (IDF) of Peking University. This report

reviews the developmental experiences of financial inclusion in Asian countries

and introduces "Asian Index of Financial Inclusion Ecosystem (AIFIE)" for the

first time. The index is compiled with data from the World Bank and the World

Economic Forum, and it objectively evaluates the comprehensive situation of the

financial inclusion ecosystem in 27 Sample Asian countries from the 6

perspectives of "Business Environment and Government Efficiency", "Economic and

Financial Environment", "Access to credit", "Digital Infrastructure",

"Financial Consumer Literacy", "Current Development of Inclusive Finance".

According to the overall index, high performers based on the index include

Singapore, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Japan, Malaysia,

China, Thailand, Bahrain, and Kazakhstan, etc.

The report also shares the experience and practical cases of Asian countries in

developing financial inclusion, such as China's efforts in national strategy,

monetary credit supply, fiscal and tax policies, governance framework and

institutional capacity; Cambodia's achievements in constructing the credit

registration system; Mongolia and South Korea's efforts in promoting financial

literacy, insurance awareness, and protection of the people; Japan is a

three-dimension policy financing supply system formed by the Japan Finance

Corporation (JFC), the Credit Guarantee Corporation (CGC), and the Shoko Chukin

Bank; Cambodia CBC Credit Information System; India UPI Electronic Payment

System; China Utilizing Moveable Assets in SMEs Financing, etc.

BFA Vice Chairman Mr. ZHOU Xiaochuan, Nobel Prize Winner Professor Muhammad

Yunus and other important representatives from the industry and academia

attended the event.

Full report download:

English: http://english.boaoforum.org/u/cms/www2/202007/02204130ly0a.pdf    

Chinese: http://www.boaoforum.org/u/cms/www/202007/0220425444v5.pdf 

The Boao Forum for Asia is a non-government and non-profit international

organization jointly initiated by 29 countries. It is committed to promoting

regional cooperation in Asia and pooling positive energy for the development of

Asia and the world.

SOURCE: Boao Forum for Asia