Russia to host Alliance for Financial Inclusion's 10th Global Policy Forum in 2018
The Bank of Russia has won the competition to host the 10th anniversary of the Global Forum of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), to be held in 2018. The announcement was made on 15 September 2017 at a festive ceremony in the course of the annual AFI Global Forum, which took place in Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt).
The Alliance for Financial Inclusion is an international organisation that brings together financial sector regulators from 95 states, including all BRICS member countries. Its mission is to promote financial inclusion and improve the quality of financial services. The Bank of Russia has been an AFI member since 2014.
AFI's global policy forum, held every September, is its keystone event, a platform where all members meet to review and adopt strategic decisions. This year's bids to host the next global forum came from several Alliance members. Following a review of the BoR’s bid, the city of Sochi emerged as the 2018 Global Forum host. This is going to be the first AFI Global Forum to take place in the region of Central and Eastern Europe.
To win the competition, bidders should be qualified in terms of their efforts to promote financial inclusion, the availability of relevant infrastructure and the capabilities, on the bidder’s national level, to meet the necessary safety requirements. Importantly, the AFI leadership has on many occasions emphasised the Bank of Russia's leading role in the organisation’s operations.
The closing ceremony of the 9th Global Forum were attended by Mikhail Mamuta, Head of the BoR Service for Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion and Sergey Kirpichenko, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Egypt. A symbolic gong was handed to Mikhail Mamuta, and both of the officials gave an acceptance speech.
