The Ministry of Trade & Industry (MINICOM) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)) signed a mutual agreement for the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM) to be involved in the implementation of the international and open platform project, dubbed Business sans Borders (BSB).
This will strengthen greater cooperation in FinTech innovation, trade and business development between Rwanda and Singapore. MAS is Singapore’s central bank, integrated financial regulator and a global leader in supporting FinTech ecosystems and development.
The Agreement will help to facilitate a framework for FinTech collaboration between both countries. This platform is expected to enable additional development of the e-commerce and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) sector in Rwanda and increase cross-border supply of goods from Rwanda. It will help to put in place an intelligent referral mechanism to help FinTech firms access each other’s markets.
MINICOM & MAS have also committed to exchange views on emerging market trends and developments in FinTech, as well as regulatory issues on financial services innovation. The cooperation will also engender wider public-private partnership towards joint innovation projects between Rwanda and Singapore.
Further still, through cooperation with trade-supporting services like insurance, finance, payments and logistics, the platform has the potential to integrate projects such as the Export Growth Facility and create linkages with logistics platforms, creating a fully integrated and seamless e-commerce value chain for exports to Southeast Asia and beyond. It is hoped that by operationalizing this project, Rwanda’s exports to the region will increase and local businesses gain cross-border, e-commerce experience.
SEBERA M. Michel, the Permanent Secretary, MINICOM said, “The cooperation agreement highlights the strengthening FinTech partnership between Rwanda and Singapore, and lays the foundation for us to harness FinTech for a smarter, more efficient and more inclusive financial sector in our respective countries. Our bilateral collaboration in FinTech will help promote financial innovation and create new opportunities for our countries, as well as in our regions.”
Sopnendu MOHANTY, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS said, “The Business sans Borders project, now operationalised by Proxtera, is to be the global Artificial Intelligence-powered infrastructure that simplifies single point access to new buyers, new suppliers, faster financing and seamless trade services for business ecosystems in Singapore, Rwanda and beyond. This deep cooperation between MAS and MINICOM is a testament to the close and strong bond of our countries to accelerate the connectivity and digitalisation for our SMEs, FinTechs and economies to thrive in these new world dynamics.”
The Ministry of Trade and Industry is responsible for facilitating Rwanda’s economic transformation through enabling a competitive private sector integrated into regional and global markets, while ensuring a level playing field and the protection of consumers. (Fin)