G20 meeting on financial inclusion to begin in Kolkata today

Kolkata, Jan 9 (PTI) The first ‘Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion’ meeting of the G20 will begin in Kolkata on Monday with Queen M xima of the Netherlands addressing the inaugural session.

The three-day meeting will focus on the principles of digital financial inclusion, remittance costs and SME finance availability, officials said.

It will also feature symposiums, exhibitions and a domestic outreach programme on digital financial literacy involving over 1,800 students from various schools, they said.

Twelve international speakers will attend this G20 meeting, including senior officials from the World Bank, Monetary
Authority of Singapore, France and Estonia.

Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) CEO Saurabh Garg and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) MD and CEO Dilip Asbe are also scheduled to address the sessions.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may also attend the meeting on Monday, a Union Finance Ministry official said.

She is expected to promote West Bengal as an ideal destination for investment before the representatives of the member countries.

The city has been decked up for the meeting with tight security for the visiting delegates. Cultural events, sightseeing and dinner on a river cruise have been planned for the delegates as part of the scheduled programme.

India assumed the presidency of the G20 at its annual summit in Bali in November, with a promise of striving to ensure that the grouping acts as a global prime mover to envision new ideas and accelerate collective action to deal with pressing challenges.