MC Exclusive interview: Swedish minister of financial markets keen on fintech ties with India

Niklas Wykman, Minister of Financial Markets, Sweden

The Swedish government is interested in developing partnerships with the Indian fintech and instant digital payments industry, said Niklas Wykman, Minister of Financial Markets, Sweden. “We are keen and interested in developing fintech and instant payment solution partnerships with India,” said Wykman in an exclusive interaction with Moneycontrol.

On his maiden visit to India, Wykman discussed the trends in the Indian fintech and instant digital payments industry, trade and export services between India and Sweden, opportunities and risks in the regulations, and more. The Minister of Financial Markets met with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), National Stock Exchange (NSE), and industry players in the fintech and payments space.

Additionally, Wykman said that the European Union (EU) EU-India free trade agreement (FTA) can deepen the process of instant payments and cross-border payment partnerships. Edited excerpts:

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How are you looking at the Indian fintech and payments industry?

Firstly, what India has achieved in the instant payment industry is very impressive. The push towards an international network of instant payment is interesting and can create business and job opportunities. Plus several things that are happening in this space can reshape the business climate and opportunities in the global market.

You met several regulators and industry players in India. What are some key highlights from these discussions?

In our meeting with the regulators, we looked at how trade between Sweden and India can be explored. We also looked at the risks and the regulations in the fintech industry.

We further looked at the challenges and risks in the payments industry and how we can counter challenges like money laundering, consumer fraud, and terror financing.

You spoke of some discussion on risks and regulations with regulators. How do you plan to work on these with India?

We believe that everything around risks, regulations, and opportunities must be connected to the business side of the economy. The growth should not just be on the financing and digital side of it. This will only create risks on the real trade and opportunities.

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Is Sweden looking to work with India for fintech and payment industry businesses?

We are keen and interested in developing partnerships with India and Indian corporations. We believe that if there could be more fintech corporations and a better flow of fintech corporations such as India’s payment system, we will warmly welcome such opportunities.

In addition to this, how is Sweden looking at developing business with India?

We have a stable business environment and we believe there are great business opportunities in Sweden as it opens the border to the Nordic-Baltic region and the rest of Europe and even further west. For this, we believe that the EU FTA between India and Sweden is key to deepening the process of instant payments and cross-border payment partnerships. In addition to this, India’s Make in India initiative can work well with Sweden’s expertise in the export business. We have some of the best-exporting corporations in the world.

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