CIIP was pleased to support ASEAN's Working Committee on Financial Inclusion (WC-FINC) in conducting the WC-FINC Roundtable in Vientiane on 21 February 2024. Moderated by CIIP’s Director Lin-Net Koh and Manager Jonathan Chan, the discussion focused on various areas of policy interest to ASEAN Member States (AMS), including enhancing financial and digital literacy initiatives, customer protection, credit-risk evaluation, and incentivising positive behaviours among financial services providers.

The roundtable saw active participation from representatives from across ASEAN who shared examples from their respective policy frameworks and areas of practice, such as improving digital access in rural areas and deepening inter-agency coordination to address financial inclusion-related challenges.

Representatives from the Better Than Cash Alliance and ASEAN-USAID IGNITE also shared views on strengthening trust in digital financial services among micro-merchants and the importance of digital financial literacy for ASEAN’s huge youth population.