Digitalisation

Ebanx sees opportunities in a young, tech savvy population in Southeast Asia; it is also the first Brazilian company to receive a Major Payment Institution licence in Singapore.

Annapoorna Venkataramanan, head of treasury, risk, insurance and capex investments, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, revealed to CT the firm's strategy towards capital investments and treasury transformation in the fast-changing steel sector.

Corporate treasurers in the region are increasingly leaning on technology to improve their predictive capabilities, including interacting with other departments, utilising ERP and AI.

Before riding the AI wave, a treasurer needs to identify use cases, goals, resources, and tools to maximise performance and returns, according to Bojan Belejkovski.

Kelvin Li, general manager of platform tech at Ant International, discussed with CT the fintech’s digital assets strategy to support large-volume, intragroup, cross-border fund moves.

69% of finance leaders surveyed in the SAR are exploring AI applications to transform and enhance treasury operations.

Treasury teams are digitising fast — now they want regulators to catch up. While digital wallets may be surging in the retail space, B2B payments and cross-border processes remain hamstrung by regulatory inertia.

China is accelerating the international rollout of its digital yuan, shifting focus from retail trials to programmable, cross-border use cases. As treasurers weigh the strategic implications, new pilots and infrastructure moves suggest the e-CNY may soon play a more central role.

Many Asian corporates, such as Tata International, are taking a leading global role in trade finance digitisation as they look to boost balance sheets and ensure continued access to credit.

DBS and UOB are providing a $411m loan for a joint project from Singapore data centre developer DayOne and the Indonesia Investment Authority; the aim is to supply 5% of Indonesia’s projected data centre capacity by 2029.

The plan is to launch an integrated digital trade corridor to connect China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines

JP Morgan Payments' global head of treasury services discussed how Apac corporate payments are evolving, including the drive for real-time, digital wallets, APIs and blockchain.