AMTD, Xiaomi Finance, SMU, NUS-ISS unveil S$5m programme for digital finance leaders

AMTD Group, Xiaomi Finance, Singapore Management University (SMU) and the Institute of Systems Science at the National University of Singapore (NUS-ISS) have launched a S$5 million programme catered for senior executives, fintech entrepreneurs and policymakers from Singapore, South-east Asia and the Greater Bay Area.

The AMTD-Xiaomi-SMU-ISS Digital Finance Leadership Programme (AXSI Programme) will strengthen Singapore's position as a fintech and innovation hub by "deepening the knowledge and ability of senior finance and regulatory leaders, as well as fintech entrepreneurs in Asia in the areas of digital business transformation and digital finance", the organisations said in a joint statement.

This will enable the leaders to harness digital financial solutions and services to drive business excellence, the organisations said.

AMTD and Xiaomi Finance will contribute S$5 million to support this initiative. This funding will enable SMU and NUS-ISS to build the relevant curriculum and teaching resources, as well as support the cost of managing and organising the programme. Part of the contribution may also be used to fund scholarships to attract "the most outstanding" candidates from the public sector to join the AXSI Programme, the organisations said.

The programme will have two runs each year and will welcome its first cohort of participants in November this year. Each run will have up to 25 participants. The inaugural run has also been designed to coincide with the Singapore FinTech Festival, which is slated to take place from Nov 9 to 13, 2020.

In addition to the five-day executive programme in Singapore, participants of the AXSI Programme will undergo two days of learning journeys in Hong Kong and Beijing, hosted by AMTD and Xiaomi Finance, respectively.

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During their five days in Singapore, the learning sessions will comprise curated content drawn from Asia, focusing on the topics of new financial ecosystem, financial innovation, sustainability and green finance, fintech solutions as well as cybersecurity, the organisations said.

Among other things, the initiative leverages AMTD's network of resources in digital financial services; Xiaomi Finance's experience in digital technology services, consumer Internet of Things and innovations; SMU's expertise in leadership programmes, digital finance, law and governance; as well as NUS-ISS's expertise in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, the organisations said.