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Ismail Rifau
Minister of State for Economic Development, Transport and Trade
Maldives
Ismail Rifau is the Minister of State at the Ministry of Economic Development, Transport and Trade of the Republic of Maldives, where he plays a key role in advancing economic development, entrepreneurship, SME growth, and trade facilitation.
With a background in public administration, business management, and youth leadership, he has been actively involved in developing and implementing national initiatives aimed at strengthening the business environment, fostering innovation, and creating opportunities for emerging entrepreneurs.
He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and is currently pursuing a PhD at HELP University, Malaysia, with a research focus on leveraging artificial intelligence and innovation to empower Maldivian SMEs.
Beyond his government responsibilities, he has extensive experience in leadership, organizational development, and community engagement, including serving in senior leadership roles within the Scout Movement. He is passionate about promoting sustainable economic growth, digital transformation, and empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs and leaders in the Maldives.
Speaking At
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1:45–3:15pmTue 17 NovPublic-Private RoundtableRoundtable Room 4Open
Shaping Tomorrow's Innovation
Policy Meets Capital: Closing the SME Finance Gap
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Amira KarimHead of International Public Policy, Payments & Financial ServicesAmazon
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Arianne FerrerHead of External Affairs, Asia-PacificTala
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Erwan GelebartChief Executive OfficerAXIAN Digibank & Fintech
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Jiang FangfangAsia Lead for Digital Financial ServiceInternational Finance Corporation
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Nontobeko LubisiDirector, Financial InclusionNational Treasury of South Africa
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Ismail RifauMinister of State for Economic Development, Transport and TradeMaldives
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Jesse McWatersEVP, Head of Global PolicyMastercard
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Syed Abdul MomenAdditional Managing Director & Head of SME BankingBRAC Bank, Bangladesh
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H.E. Hem VanndyMinister of Industry, Science, Technology & InnovationKingdom of Cambodia
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Pamela Coke-HamiltonExecutive DirectorInternational Trade CenterModerator
About this session
SMEs in developing economies face a financing gap of about US$5.7 trillion, and it is growing faster than the economies themselves. Supply alone will not close it. Policy, data and market infrastructure must develop alongside it.
This roundtable brings ministers responsible for SMEs together with leaders from payments, fintech, banking and development finance. It looks at three questions:
- Which cross-border payment and trade-finance rails would help SMEs sell abroad?
- How can governments crowd in private lending at scale?
- What role should the public sector play in enabling digital lending, including alternative data and AI credit scoring?
As a Singapore stop on the Road to Geneva, the discussion will produce priorities for the 2nd Global SME Ministerial Meeting in May 2027 and for the SME Trade Finance Facility.
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