The Indian and Singaporean governments announced today that the two countries have established a joint working group (JWG) to strengthen cooperation surrounding FinTech. The Indian Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) ) yesterday that put the JWG into effect.

Today’s announcement comes shortly after Narendra Modi visited Singapore. The Indian prime minister was in the country from the 31st of May to the 2nd of June and oversaw the signing of the MoU along with Singaporean prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong.

The two countries already have a number of agreements in place to advance their respective Fintech capabilities. For example, there are efforts to create a cross-border payment linkage between Singapore’s PayNow and India’s Immediate Payment Service (IMPS).

Department-wide

A swathe of governmental representatives will be working on the new JWG. From the Indian side, workers from, amongst other bodies, the DEA, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Regulatory Development Authority of India will be taking part. On the Singaporean side, workers from the Government Technology Agency, Digital Government Office and Smart Nation will be represented.

Charing of the board will be shared between the two countries too. MAS Deputy Managing Director Jacqueline Loh and the Additional Secretary of the Indian Department of Financial Services, Ravi Mital, will co-chair the JWG.

Commenting on the signing of the MoU, Loh said: “Singapore and India have embarked on a digitalization journey to harness technology and boost innovation. Both countries have a growing and vibrant FinTech ecosystem. The Joint Working Group is a testament of [sic] our continued collaboration with India, to learn from each other, undertake joint innovation projects, and progress together.”