ABU DHABI, 7th March, 2023 (WAM) -- The United Arab Emirates has participated in the second Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) meeting under the Finance Track of the G20 for 2023. The meeting was held on 6th-7th March in Hyderabad, India, under India's G20 Presidency.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the progress made on the GPFI workplan and the priority areas outlined for the group in 2023. The development of the Financial Inclusion Action Plan 2023, which will guide the group’s work for the next three years, was also discussed.

The UAE delegation consisted of Mariam Al Hajri, Deputy Director of the General Budget Department at the Ministry of Finance, and Faiza Al Awadi, Head of Financial Consumer Protection at the Consumer Protection Department at the Central Bank of the UAE. G20 members, invited countries, GPFI country members, and international organisations, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), also participated in the meeting.

On the first day of the meeting, the UAE delegation attended the symposium on Digital Innovations in Payments and Remittances, where they discussed the latest developments in innovative digital payment systems and how they advance financial inclusion and productivity gains.

During the GPFI meetings, the UAE team supported the GPFI’s direction to explore the role of digital public infrastructure in advancing financial inclusion. The team also emphasised the need to address the barriers to deploying digital public infrastructure to promote financial inclusion.

In discussions relating to the 2023 Financial Inclusion Action Plan, the UAE team stressed the importance of enabling both access and usability of high-quality financial products and services as key pillars to be targeted by the upcoming plan.

The GPFI members also discussed recommendations to promote the role of Digital Public Infrastructure in advancing financial inclusion and productivity gains, ways to enhance Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) access to finance, data harmonization, and showcased best practices in digital remittances to reduce the cost of remittances.

Finally, members agreed to share the progress on the GPFI deliverables during the next Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in April.

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