On Oct. 25, Hong Kong and Singapore announced that they are going to cooperate on a cross-border trade project based on Blockchain technology by linking their trade finance platforms.
The announcement from Hong Kong Monetary Authority reads:
“The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) signed and exchanged a Co-operation Agreement (“Agreement”) in Hong Kong today (25 Oct. 2017) to strengthen co-operation on fintech, with a view to bolster ties between the two cities and fostering fintech development within the region.”
Last year, HKMA with banks including HSBC and Standard Chartered worked on building a trade finance platform by using Blockchain technology to digitize and share trade documents, automate processes and reduce the risk of fraud.
At the same time, Singapore planned to build a similar platform as well. The cooperation between Hong Kong and Singapore on this project will “enhance the trade finance corridor between the two financial centers,” according to Ravi Menon, managing director of MAS.
What’s more, the platform could significantly increase the efficiency of trade finance in the future. It will replace humans to do time-consuming paperwork.
HKMA and MAS stated that linking the two platforms is just a part of a broader plan between their future collaboration on the Blockchain and other fintech projects. Details about the cooperation will be announced by the two authorities next month.