Today, the 11th Conference for Payments and Market Infrastructures, entitled "Let’s Get Digitial", organized by the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia in cooperation with the Central Bank of the Netherlands was successfully completed.
In the past three days, in Ohrid, representatives from 21 central banks from the region of Western, Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East and North Africa, as well as representatives of the domestic financial sector, have discussed, debated and exchanged experiences on the challenges of payments digitalization. High officials from the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the central banks belonging to the European System of Central Banks, the Bank for International Settlements and the World Bank made a special contribution to these discussions.
Conveying her pleasure about the successful completion of another Conference for Payments and Market Infrastructures, the Vice-Governor Maja Kadijevska Vojnovik expressed satisfaction for the extensive expert presentations and discussions that contribute towards better understanding of the new technologies and regulations in the payment area, which would facilitate their application in the Republic Macedonia. In this context, the Vice-Governor pointed out that the NBRM and the Ministry of Finance are preparing a Draft Law on Payment Services and Payment Systems, which transposes a set of the most important EU regulations in this area. It is expected that the adoption of this Draft Law, the preparation of which is in the final stage, will contribute to larger competitiveness in the area of payments, enabled through the entry of new non-bank payment service providers, the emergence of innovative solutions for the execution of payments, reduction of the prices of payment services, providing better consumer protection and enhanced security of digital payments.
“For 11 consecutive years, the NBRM and the Dutch Central Bank, in the beautiful City of Ohrid, have been organizing the international Conference for Payments and Market Infrastructures. This 11th edition focused on the challenges the regulators face with amid growing digitalization of payments. The theme was therefore "Let’s Get Digital".
As a result of applications allowing payments via mobile phones, the differences between physical and virtual sites will more and more disappear. In addition, the instant payments allow payments for 24 hours a day, which supports the smooth functioning of the economy," said the Conference President Michiel Van Doeveren from the Dutch Central Bank. He also pointed out that the NBRM and the Dutch Central Bank support the development of new payment products and the entry of new providers, such as the Fintech sector, and that good co-operation between all stakeholders will provide a secure and stable payments infrastructure.
At the end of the Conference, the participants from the Republic of Macedonia, among which were representatives of all commercial banks, payment systems, as well as potential new payment service providers from the Fintech sector, unanimously shared the impression that its maintenance brings big benefits to the payment industry in the domestic economy, and that in that context, this year edition will contribute to overcome the challenges that the digitization process brings with it. Participants from abroad supported the NBRM efforts to stimulate the exchange of experiences and the discussion on digitization among experts from central banks, payment systems, banks, the Fintech sector and payment institutions.
It was also noted that the new knowledge that the representatives of several central banks acquired owing to this Conference will be pivotal for some of their further efforts in the field of digitization. This is a firm confirmation that the NBRM, through its international activity, the analytical monitoring of the world trends and challenges and the organization of this type of events, succeeds in becoming not only a participant, but also an instigator and supporter of the processes of change on both, the national and international level.