by Suman Gupta
Mumbai, 19th July 2024: At a time when Hon’ble Prime Minister of India laid out his vision to transform Mumbai into the world’s fintech capital, World Trade Center Mumbai and All India Association of Industries (AIAI) will organise the 9th Global Economic Summit from August 8-10, 2024, at WTC Mumbai. The Summit will put spotlight on innovation, investment and skill development to transform Prime Minister’s vision into a reality.
This initiative by WTC Mumbai and AIAI will underscore the prominence of fintech sector that has swept financial revolution transforming lives of 1.4 billion people. The objective of the Summit is to highlight the power of Fintech to drive innovation, MSME competitiveness and employment. The Summit will also deliberate on the power of fintech solutions in fostering clean governance and efficient banking system.
The Program, which is supported by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITY) and Ministry of MSMEs, Government of India, will lay a roadmap for positioning Mumbai as the regional fintech hub of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
International experts from Asia, Africa, Middle East and USA will address the Summit and facilitate strategic alliance between Mumbai’s fintech entities and their counterparts in these regions.
Dr V. Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor, Government of India will share strategies to transform Mumbai into a regional and global fintech hub.
Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Mr. Devendra Fadnavis will address the Inaugural Session of the 9th GES by articulating the state government’s vision for fintech and invite foreign investors, fintech startups to establish Mumbai as the regional fintech hub of Asia. Maharashtra State Innovation Society will showcase the evolving fintech ecosystem in the state and its role in supporting fintech startups.
Other states such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat will also highlight their fintech potential at the Programme.
Speaking about the Summit, Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai remarked, “Government of Maharashtra is supporting this Summit as the Host State Partner to promote its competitive advantage in this sector with the foreign delegates. Fintech leaders from Philippines, Japan, USA, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Kenya and other African countries will discuss strategic collaboration with government regulators and fintech industry to enhance the status of Mumbai as the leading fintech hub.”
According to Forbes Magazine, Mumbai is the third largest fintech hub in Asia and the 12th largest globally with 272 fintech entities, ahead of Beijing, Tokyo and Chicago. The top six global Fintech hubs are: San Francisco, New York, London, Singapore, Stockholm and Berlin.
The Summit will discuss the decline in the number of Fintech Unicorns in India in recent times. The number of Fintech Unicorns in India has fallen from 32 to 17 in the last two years. Distinguished speakers at the Summit will shed light on the Road to Profitability as many of the Fintech Unicorns in India are loss making.
Of the 17 Fintech unicorns, two are headquartered in Mumbai. The city has received USD 15 billion fintech investment so far and there are 766 fintech investors in the city. The Summit will lay emphasis on developing world-class incubation and accelerator ecosystem to churn out more fintech unicorns, generate more jobs and enhance fintech’s contribution to GDP.
Dr. Kalantri pointed out that the Summit will foster global alliance to attract investment, promote entrepreneurship, innovation and skill development in Mumbai’s vibrant fintech ecosystem.
India is already a global leader in Digital Public Infrastructure and digital payments with 12.5 billion UPI transactions, 1.4 billion Aadhar authentications and 700 million Jan Dhan bank accounts to achieve financial inclusion in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. India, with its vast talent pool, has the potential to emerge as a global leader in data centers and related fields such as cyber security, cloud technology, and data insurance. Digital assets and tokenization will be another focus area wherein experts at the summit will discuss need for global collaboration in regulatory harmonizations and tax certainties to support the sector.
The Summit will also discuss the potential of Indian fintech solutions to provide cross-border payment settlement mechanism alternative to SWIFT to reduce dependence on US Dollar. Already, India’s world-class UPI is adopted by Qatar, Indonesia, Bhutan, France and other countries.
The Summit will highlight the need for establishing digital infrastructure company to accelerate the digital transition of Indian banking system.
The Summit will empower MSMEs through fintech solutions and also to connect local fintech entities to international experts for expanding their business globally.
Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are the key pillars to attain inclusive economic growth. Today, MSMEs contribute 29% to GDP, 45% to exports and generate at least 110 million jobs; Fintech solutions can bridge MSME credit gap, which is pegged at USD 20 trillion in India. With better access to finance through fintech solutions, the share of MSMEs in GDP and exports can be enhanced to 40% and 50% respectively and this has potential to create 30 million jobs in the country. Maharashtra government will showcase the MSME ecosystem in the state and facilitate fruitful partnership between small scale enterprises and fintech ecosystem in the state.
Large Indian and foreign banks such as State Bank of India, IDBI Bank and Bank of America will showcase their strategies to transform MSME financing through fintech solutions.
Mr. Ashutosh Sharma, Chief General Manager, International Financial Services Authority (IFSCA) will share the best practices of GIFT City and collaboration with Maharashtra for co-development of fintech ecosystem.
The Summit will also have knowledge sessions with Mr. Bruno Massier, President – World Trade Point Federation, Mr. Marwan AlMarri, Regional Director – Asia, Dubai Chamber, Mr. Thamby Koshy, CEO, ONDC and other dignitaries.
The three-day Summit will have 100 exhibitors showcasing the fintech ecosystem of various states, including Maharashtra and it will be attended by more than 300 delegates and 4000 visitors.
