NEWS Release - Digital finance – Reaping the benefits without neglecting the risks - Welcoming remarks at the G20 conference "Digitising finance, financial inclusion and financial literacy" - Dr Jens WeidmannPresident of the Deutsche Bundesbank
Introduction
Your Majesty - Your excellencies - Honourable members of the G20 delegations - Ladies and gentlemen - Welcome to Wiesbaden and specifically to the G20 conference on "Digitising finance, financial inclusion and financial literacy"!
We are deeply honoured and privileged to have with us today Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. Thank you, Your Majesty, for joining us at this conference.
It is a coincidence, but a very apt one, that this conference is being held at Schloss Biebrich. This baroque castle served as the ducal residence for the independent Duchy of Nassau between 1816 and 1866. The House of Nassau, in turn, is the parent house of the Dutch Royal Family, as you can tell from the dynasty's name, which is Huis van Oranje-Nassau.
That being said, Queen Máxima most certainly did not come here today to visit a castle that once belonged to her husband's ancestors.
Rather, she is here to deliver a speech in her capacity as the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development.
2 The German G20 presidency
Financial inclusion is without doubt an important topic because it can influence the extent to which financial services and innovations can improve our lives. And that's an aim we should all be interested in.
In an effort to improve the long-term global economic conditions for all, the agenda of the German G20 presidency is geared towards three objectives: building resilience, improving sustainability, and assuming responsibility. To this end, Germany has set three main priorities for discussions between finance ministers and central bank governors and among the G20 working groups.
Strengthening the resilience of national economies
Shaping digitalisation
Promoting investment, particularly in Africa
We would like to invite you to discuss all these topics in an open and constructive atmosphere of mutual trust and cooperation. In our view the success of the G20 process depends on the conviction that international cooperation and an open markets approach provide benefits for all countries and peoples involved.
It is key for our policy to provide new chances for everybody in our societies by driving forward inclusive global growth. Let's keep this in mind.
Coming back to this year's programme, I would like to mention three additional conferences which will provide a forum for analysing background topics and fostering an exchange of views between academics, practitioners and official bodies. Our conference today is one of them.
Unlike the main meetings, conferences like today's are an opportunity to take a broader perspective - not only in terms of topics but also with regard to countries' experiences. They allow us to invite representatives from non-G20 countries and to learn from them.
Over the conference dinner this evening, for example, we will be hearing a speech from Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland, which is a very advanced economy in the field of electronic banking. And in a workshop tomorrow, Patrick Njoroge, governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, will share with us his country's broad experience in matters of digital financial inclusion.
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