THE Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group (IDB) Tuesday signed an agreement with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to collaborate on projects and initiatives that will foster innovation in financial services in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and ASEAN regions

The IDB said that its innovation laboratory, IDB Lab, signed the Memorandum of Understanding with MAS with the key co-operation area being to create cross-border collaboration networks between the FinTech ecosystems in Singapore and LAC to enable joint innovation projects on financial inclusion in both LAC and ASEAN regions.

It said that the MOU will also allow for holding policy dialogues on topics of common interest such as API standards, data governance, cybersecurity and digital identity as well as facilitating knowledge exchange on digital transformation in financial institutions and the benefits of collaborating with FinTechs.

The IDB said that through this collaboration, the IDB Group will create a platform that will allow financial institutions in the LAC region to test solutions, connect and exchange knowledge on innovation strategies and initiatives. “With this agreement, we take a step forward to consolidate the role of IDB Lab as the hub that connects Latin America and the Caribbean with one of the most innovative financial agents in the world,” said Irene Arias, the IDB Lab’s chief executive officer.

“We believe that the experience of MAS, particularly through its FinTech & Innovation Group, with new regulatory approaches such as the use of regulatory sandboxes and digital financial solutions are some examples of what our region can learn from Singapore, one of the most advanced countries in the world of Fintech,” she added.

MAS chief FinTech officer, Sopnendu Mohanty said ‘this agreement opens doors for collaboration between the FinTech ecosystems in Latin America and Caribbean with Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. “We are happy to welcome participants from 15 countries in LAC to the Singapore FinTech Festival this year. We look forward to the synergies and new partnerships that will be forged during and beyond the Festival,” he added.