QAMAR SALEEM heads SME Finance Forum, managed by IFC at World Bank Group, working to expand access to finance and services for small and medium businesses globally thus steering economic growth and job creation. Prior to this role, Qamar Saleem was heading IFC’s Financial Institutions Group Advisory Services business for Asia and Pacific leading a large team across 20+ countries aimed at providing integrated client solutions across SME, Gender, Climate, Digital, Housing, Trade, Capital Markets, and Supply Chain Finance. Qamar has been with IFC since 2012 and served in his previous roles as global technical lead for SME and Supply Chain Finance.
Qamar has overall 30+ years of global financial services experience having supported clients across 80+ countries internationally, managing large business lines while leading multi-cultural and cross-functional teams. He is a recognized thought leader, featured speaker, and an industry mentor with several publications and thought pieces to his credit. Prior to IFC, for a period of two decades, Qamar was associated in leadership roles with international organizations like HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank as well as large regional banks in MENA while serving in several emerging markets where he also led SME Banking, Transaction Banking, and Commercial Banking Divisions.
Roundtable Room 3, Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Level 4
Invite-Only
In March 2024, during the Japan FinTech Festival, a roundtable on "Shaping data policies through cross-border collaborations" debated practical industry and policy issues surrounding the G7 Data Free Flow with Trust (DFTT) Initiative. The roundtable highlighted key considerations for enhancing the free flow of data while balancing policy objectives related to data governance, consumer protection, and the digital economy.
In 2017, The Economist declared data as the new oil. Data would be the source of wealth and power in the 21st century. But like oil, data is not without its challenges - it needs to be collected, classified, processed, stored, transmitted and consumed, all with associated risks and costs.
Data sits the heart of modern payments. It is a centrepiece in the G20 cross border payments agenda. Fintechs see much of the value in payments from data as opposed to transactions revenue, where margins are approaching zero. Data will become increasingly standardised through adoption of the ISO 20022 and LEIs; and likely regulated on a consistent basis, unleashing value that will create cross border payments that are accessible, affordable, transparent and fast.
However, data is more than just payments and governments, policymakers and other industries are also looking at data in terms of giving consumers greater control over their own data, opening up government data to third parties, and enabling e-commerce and global trade in digital goods - all within a context where there is concern over privacy, fraud and national security.
As the payments and non-payments worlds grapple with make data work better so that value can be unlocked, there is the risk of new silos being created. What are the challenges for the payments ecosystem and fintech sector around reforms in the areas of global trade or open data? What are the opportunities? How do we ensure consistency and alignment in data standards and data regulation across the economy?
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