The Managing Director of Exim Bank of India, David Rasquinha, signed a multilateral cooperation agreement, along with Chairmen/Presidents of other member development banks of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) nations, expressing their intent to undertake collaborative research on Distributed Ledger / Blockchain Technology. The MoU was an outcome of the discussions the member development banks have had during their annual meeting, with the objective of strengthening the cooperation under the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism.
Under this umbrella agreement, the signatories have agreed to constitute a Joint Research Working Group which will formulate the research agenda and targeted outcomes. The Working Group will also carry out the research towards identifying potential applications of the Distributed Ledger / Blockchain Technology, in the financial sector, particularly in the area of infrastructure financing.
The distributed ledger / blockchain technology replaces the old processes and paperwork with a new-found innovative process that is faster, and can offer tangible outcomes. The Agreement, thus, is expected to contribute to enhance cooperation amongst BRICS development banks, and would also speed up and simplify the processes, and thereby reduce the cost of cross border payments using the blockchain technology.
Exim Bank of India is the nominated member development bank under the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism. Other nominated member development banks from BRICS nations are: Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social – BNDES, Brazil; State Corporation Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs – Vnesheconombank, Russia; China Development Bank Corporation, and Development Bank of Southern Africa.
