Singapore partners Hong Kong to boost fintech development

FINTECH ties between Singapore and Hong Kong have been given a shot in the arm with a new agreement which promises to strengthen cooperation and boost innovation in financial technology (fintech) between the two financial centres.

The first collaboration between the two will be a strategic project on trade finance cross-border infrastructure, to be based on distributed ledger technology.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) have also agreed to foster fintech development within the region.

They will also join forces on other fintech initiatives, facilitate referrals of innovative businesses, share information and exchange expertise.

Ravi Menon, MAS managing director, said that the partnership is one of the more significant fintech cooperation agreements, given the extensive financial and trade linkages between the two markets.

"We are especially pleased that we have a live project to enhance the trade finance corridor between the two financial centres," he said.

Norman Chan, HKMA chief executive, said that collaboration between the HKMA and the MAS will "create significant synergy for the development of fintech and more efficient fund flows between the two markets".

This comes ahead of this year's Singapore Fintech Festival, to be held November 13 to 17.