It is a privilege to speak before you today as we start the second day of this event.  This is a good opportunity for us to engage one another and learn the best practices that we can scale up and replicate under our current agenda.

Governments have been embarking on technological innovations even way before the Covid19 virus disrupted our normal lives, but this pandemic has amplified the need to shift to digital transactions, including digital payments of wages and subsidies by both governments and private employers. 

The benefits of shifting from cash to digital wage payments have long been recognized, not to mention the administrative cost and risk associated with carrying cash.  Indeed, this promotes financial inclusion and the formalization of employment.   It also provides an intrinsic value to our workers, knowing that their ATM cards do not only serve as a passport to the ATM machines of banks and money service providers, but a testament that they are also part of technological advancement.

The financial sector serves as a backbone of the economy, and leveraging financial technology and innovations will help us pave the road toward a more resilient and sustainable recovery path as we strive to bounce back from the current pandemic with its huge impact to our workers, businesses and everybody.

I understand that among the objectives of this forum is to identify existing gaps so that we can address them with our collaborative efforts.  Nations have different levels of resource endowments, including technological talents and resources.  

We hope that the views and insights that will emerge from this forum will serve as useful inputs as we move forward with our goal of promoting decent work through digital wage payments.

Thank you, and let us all stay safe.