Chinese fintech firm keen to invest in microfinance sector

ISLAMABAD: Chinese leading financial technology firm MinTech is keen to invest in Pakistan for providing solutions to microfinance sector in the country, its chief said on Wednesday.

Mickey Li, co-founder and chief executive officer of MinTech, said the company intends to start business in Pakistan as soon as possible, “as it is the right time to invest in Pakistan”.

“The country has immense investment potential and has been on the top of the list of MinTech because of the size of the market (6th most populous country), a large middle class and the potential demand for microfinance loans as about one million people in Pakistan have credit cards beside sufficient mobile phone penetration,” Li said during his first trip to Pakistan.

MinTech’s chief was leading a delegation at an introductory meeting with the Project Director of the Project Management Unit of Board of Investment (BOI) Asim Ayub.

MinTech’s was established in 2016. It has served 40 million customers globally, as well as partnered with more than 30 financial institutions by offering them digital solutions. MinTech provides convenient and socially responsible revolving and installment loans and credit card products to clients in eight countries, including China, United States, Spain, India, Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Ayub appreciated the intent of MinTech to invest in Pakistan and assured all-out support to the delegation within the mandate of the BOI.

“The BOI is undertaking rigorous efforts to facilitate ease of doing business reforms in the country,” a statement quoted him as saying. “Pakistan recently jumped 28 points on the doing business index according to the recent Doing Business Report 2020 of the World Bank.”

Ayub said the rapid mobile phone penetration in Pakistan has made it viable to channel technological investment in big data and artificial intelligence in the microfinance industry and facilitate individual entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises to do business in Pakistan.

“Pakistan and China have a future together, and there is immense potential for people to people linkages,” he said.

Ayub said the second stage of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is about industrial cooperation and socioeconomic development between the two countries. “The time to take Pakistan forward on the path of technological advancement is now.”

The government of Pakistan has made it a priority to seek technology-driven solutions to facilitate export-oriented-labour intensive industrialisation in the country and pave the way towards socioeconomic uplift, especially through job creation and skill transfer.

BOI official said Pakistan is home to some of the best IT graduates in the world and, to harness their potential as well as to provide incentives to investors in the sector, a science

and technology park has been established by the National University of Sciences and Technology in Islamabad.