Cross-border collaboration is about recovery, SME growth, govt alliances

MANILA, Philippines, Nov. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The week-long inaugural Philippine Fintech Festival (PFF)-World FinTech Festival-(WFF) Philippines highlighted ASEAN as a global powerhouse for innovators with the participation of 200 international government and industry leaders. The PFF kickstarted the ASEAN FinTech Month, culminating in the recently concluded Singapore FinTech Festival on November 4. Convening it was Digital Pilipinas, the largest private sector-led movement championing to tech up the country, in partnership with Elevandi, founded by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to foster public-private-sector dialogue for FinTech advancement.

Philippines' Department of Information and Communications Technology Usec. David Almirol promised the participants, "The government is your ally for sustainability in digitalization."

To MAS Chief FinTech Officer Sopnendu Mohanty, the focus is on "recovery," especially for "small businesses needing a lot of technology and digital platforms."

The collaboration between digitally-savvy nations --the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Hungary, Israel, and Japan-- birthed the following partnerships:  the Department of Trade and Industry's Philippine Trade Training Center and the MAS' Proxtera; and Digital Pilipinas' individual agreements with Hungary's Digitális Jólét Program; Affinidi; and Indonesia's Financial Services Authority.

Coins.ph CEO Wei Zhou acknowledged, "The PFF's users, capital, and projects will help the take-off" for ASEAN collaboration.

Attended by more than 5000 people, the PFF discussed challenges and potentials involving digital cooperatives; big data and AI; InsureTech, Green Finance; Open Finance; NFTs, e-wallets, and digital currencies; EduTech; WealthTech; MarkTech; AgriTech; and PropTech.

Participating in the PFF were co-presenter Coins.ph and co-convenors Etiqa Philippines, Angkas, PayMongo, Union Bank of the Philippines, digiCOOP, ADVANCE.AI, NinjaVan Philippines, KPMG in the Philippines, UNO Digital Bank, Creador, Globe, PruLife UK, ACUBELAW, Gorriceta Africa Cauton & Saavedra, Brankas, GCash, COL Financial, and, Xendit Philippines. Other sponsors were Tech Exactly, StartUp Village, Bounce Back Philippines, Fintech Philippines Association, FinScore, Mapúa University, and GeiserMaclang.

Media partners were Inquirer Group of Companies, Inquirer Mobile, Inquirer.Net, Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin, United Neon, Coinvestasi, and CoinGeek.

Government and industry leaders are optimistic on ASEAN's sustained growth as a global digital powerhouse.

Uppermost left: Rico Bautista, President and CEO, Etiqa Philippines and President, Philippine Life Insurance Association Inc.; Bottom left: George Royeca, Angkas CEO; Upper row, from left: Michael Calma, PH Country Manager, ADVANCE.AI; Wei Zhou, CEO, Coins.ph; Yang Yang Zhang, Managing Director, Xendit Philippines, Amor Maclang, Convenor – Digital Pilipinas, WFF-Philippines, PFF; and Winsley Bangit, CEO, G-Xchange, Inc. Second row, from left: Israel Ambassador Ilan Fluss; Hungarian Ambassador Titanilla Tóth; Sopnendu Mohanty, MAS Chief FinTech Officer; DICT Usec. David Almirol, and Triyono Gani, Executive Director, OJK.

Bottom row, from left: Ann Cuisia, CEO of TraXion Tech, Inc. /DigiCoop.ph; David Hardoon, Chief Data Officer, Union Bank of the Philippines; Manish Bhai, Founder and CEO, UNO Digital Bank; Erika Dizon-Go, Union Bank of the Philippines Senior Vice President, Fintech Business Group Head, Open Finance and Digital Services Center of Excellence Head; and John Aguilar, The Final Pitch producer/host.