World Bank Offers To Take India’s Digitisation To Rest Of The World, Says Finance Minister Sitharaman

World Bank President offered to work with India to encourage other countries to emulate its successful digitization programmes so they, too, could benefit, according to Finance Minister Sitharaman.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. (File Photo)

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that World Bank President David Malpass had volunteered to collaborate with India to help other nations adopt its successful digitalization initiatives so they, too, could profit, news agency PTI reported.

In a statement made to Indian reporters on Saturday at a press conference near the end of her trip to Washington, D.C., where she attended the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Sitharaman said India had been asked to demonstrate how Indians have embraced the expanding use of digital technology.

After meeting with Malpass at the World Bank headquarters, Sitharaman said: “In fact, today, in my meeting with the World Bank President David Malpass, he said that you should now showcase the deepening of digital applications in India and how common people have accepted it."

In order to expand it to other regions of the world, he said he would be pleased to engage with India on behalf of the World Bank. "There is not just the World Bank, but every bilateral that I've had people have spoken very highly of India's achievement on the digital side,” Sitharaman said in response to a question on the subject.

According to her discussions outside of the IMF and World Bank's annual sessions, there is undoubtedly widespread praise for India's achievement with digitalization.

“There's certainly a lot of appreciation. In fact, with a sense of amazement that India could do it in such a short period, it's digital applications which have been successful, how people have adapted to it. And the way in which across the board, now digital is panned out, it's not just payment, it is also health, it's also education, it's also looking at health related vaccination…COVIN and so on,” she was quoted by PTI in its report.

“So, India stacks are both the point of admiration and the manner in which it has been rapidly developed, But even better, that we were able to spread it and reach a level of saturation and many of them. And that it is kept as a common public good, is also recognised,” Sitharaman added.

The finance minister said earlier in her meeting with the World Bank President that India looks forward to close cooperation with the World Bank during the future G20 Presidency and that the World Bank has been a significant partner of the G20 since its founding.

Sitharaman stated that India would like the G20 to look at how multilateral development banks may improve climate financing by leveraging and facilitating resources during its G20 Presidency.

Malpass assured the finance minister that he would highlight India's financial inclusion and digitisation initiatives to other finance ministers as a way for governments to help their poor people advance in these difficult times. Malpass was impressed by the quick and deep penetration of these initiatives among the poor in India.

(With Inputs From PTI)