Thank you, AMD Gillian.
Good morning, Your Royal Highness, the Grand Duke, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Your Excellencies, Ministers, and fellow roundtable participants.
Singapore’s journey as a fintech hub is grounded in five pillars:
- Foundational Digital Infrastructure
- A Vibrant Startup and Innovation Ecosystem
- Proactive Regulatory Intervention
- Strong Public-Private Partnerships
- International Collaboration
In the last decade, FinTech growth in Singapore has emerged from experiments and initiatives that leverage technology and innovation in finance. These initiatives have included a regulatory sandbox and cross-border payment linkages, as Minister Chee mentioned we established bilateral payment connections with India, Thailand, and Malaysia. These bilateral initiatives laid the foundation for BIS led Project Nexus, which will set the standards for multilateral cross-border payment linkages.
Additionally, there was a focus on digital assets and tokenization, as well as the adoption of AI to transform Singapore into a Smart Financial Centre. Furthermore, the success of the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) has established it as the largest global platform for the FinTech community to collaborate on financial technology and innovation.
As Minister Chee mentioned, last year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced the establishment of the Global Finance &Technology Network (GFTN) to further enhance Singapore's engagement with the global ecosystem for impactful innovation in financial services.
Anticipating the next decade, GFTN will continue to promote industry collaboration and improve connectivity for meaningful innovation in financial services. It will stimulate the growth of the FinTech ecosystem and foster greater synergies and networks within the global FinTech community.
GFTN has established four areas of focus:
- Expand and enhance the forum network to convene stakeholders in five continents and build a network of global forums for a coordinated effort to strengthen cross-border collaboration.
- Provide strategic FinTech advisory services that include capacity building for the Global South.
- Deploy cross-border fintech platforms with a focus on SMEs, Sustainability, and innovation acceleration.
- Create a global venture capital fund to improve catalytic capital access for fintech and Climate Tech ventures.
The financial sector stands on the brink of a significant transformation driven by three technological changes:
- A complete overhaul of financial platforms, evolving from current point-and click screens to advanced AI-driven multi-modal interfaces harnessing voice, text, and images, reimagining user experience and accessibility. With the banking sector’s spending on generative AI expected to reach $85 billion by 2030
- The tokenization of financial assets is promising to streamline transactions and significantly bolster operational efficiency. It is estimated by 2030, 4T worth of assets will be tokenized.
- A redesign of cybersecurity systems to effectively counter the emerging threat of Quantum Risk, ensuring that financial institutions remain secure in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
Embracing these changes is crucial for success in the new financial era. However, we face urgent challenges requiring deeper collaboration:
- A global shortage of skilled software talent is projected, with an estimated 85 million job vacancies by 2030 needed to support the overhaul of the financial system. It is estimated that financial institutions will spend $ 1 trillion on technology by 2030.
- The need for global standard regulatory frameworks to transition to AI-based financial systems, transit to tokenized asset management, and quantum-proof systems.
- Urgency for QS Standardization: While efforts are underway to develop quantum-safe cryptography standards, such as NIST’s Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) standardization process, the lack of finalized standards leaves organizations uncertain about which solutions to implement. Some estimate banks will spend $ 20 billion on upgrading to QS standards in the coming years.
As we stand at the crossroads of change, the data paints a compelling picture of the opportunities and challenges ahead. We face both unprecedented growth and critical skill gaps. As we navigate this landscape, our collaborative efforts through GFTN will facilitate harnessing these opportunities and shaping a secure, innovative, and inclusive financial future for all.
Thank you, I end my remarks to hear from our Luxembourg colleagues.