May 13 to 17, 2024

From May 13 to May 17, 2024, the course on “Cross-border Payments in the Digital Age”, jointly organized with the People’s Bank of China (PBC), took place in Shenzhen. 61 people participated in the course, including 29 from China, and 32 from 10 BRI countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The course was supported by The SEACEN Centre.

The course was presented by the Monetary and Capital Markets Department (MCM) and led by Mr. Kieran Murphy, Mr. Kaustab Roy, and Mr. Clément Berthou. This course was designed based on the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments and the IMF-World Bank approach to cross-border payments technical assistance. The lectures explored the evolving landscape of cross-border payments in the digital age and focused on how it could be improved, including the pain points of developing cross-border payments, the regional and international initiatives to address those obstacles in the near term.

To facilitate exchange of experience and insights on the measures of cross-border payments among the participating countries, a panel discussion on FPS (Faster Payment system) interlinkages, country case studies presented by course participants, and guest lectures presented by experts from The SEACEN Centre and Tenpay were organized. Through the course, the participants gained a deeper understanding of cross-border payments and the actions underway to address the challenges faced by them. The course was well received by the course participants.