By Express News Service

VISAKHAPATNAM: In a move that will boost the Fintech environment in the state and Vizag in particular, the Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday signed MoUs with as many as 10 companies dealing with education, knowledge sharing, research and development of suitable man power in the financial technology sector, on the inaugural day of the two-day Spring Conference 2017.

Four more four companies are going to sign agreements on the second day of the event on Friday.

Special chief secretary and IT advisor to chief minister, JA Chowdary, inaugurated the event and MoU documents were exchanged by the officials with the company representatives in the evening, as chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu witnessed the entire proceedings through a video conference from Vijayawada.

The government signed pact with companies including Pearson, Paradigmit, Lattice80, Anthill, Hackerearth, F65, Forumsynergies, Hyderabad Angels, Zone Startups and Trade Land Finance Tech Consortium (TLF) among the others.

"The Fintech Valley Spring Conference is our step in joining the Fourth Industrial Revolution which is a spectacular combination of technology and Internet of Things (IoT). The demand for Fintech is growing each day and to meet this demand, we will need the support from Fintech and cyber security companies and academic institutions to adapt the suitable curriculum to create man power," the chief minister said, laying a red carpet for the new investors in the Fintech Valley in Vizag.

He also highlighted the conducive environment the government has created for the investors, reiterating the government resolve to make the Port City as the financial capital of the state.

As part of the pacts, the companies will develop academic curriculum, provide tools for effective knowledge sharing and evolve trouble-shooting mechanism to deal with the challenges in the sector.

Explaining that the government is promoting the concept of ‘Fintectonics’ to deal with the challenges emerging in the field of digital transactions and use of IT tolls in financial inclusion, IT advisor to chief minister, JA Chowdary, said that the Fintech sector in the state would witness a tectonic shift soon.

"We are promoting a culture of creating an ecosystem by getting the right industry linkages and finding the right formula for the critical manpower," he said, adding that the government has initiated a Fintech networking event every month, in addition to the annual Fintech international flagship event, which is slated for October 9 and 10 this year.

The government will host the Blockchain Technology International Event too, he added.

An investment panel discussion on ‘funding Fintech - wearing an investor's hat’ was organised that discussed the post demonetisation scenario and identification of Fintech investment portfolios.

Further, presentations were given on the start-up challenges with ICICI Bank, HDFC Life as the case studies. Another panel discussion was held on ‘consumers and marketplaces changing in an increasingly cashless world’ where in the panelists stressed on the need of creating of a consolidated industry-wide ‘use case’ library to facilitate innovation.

“The Fintech innovation challenges hosted at the event evoked a tremendous response. We received 150 applications from 15 countries across the globe including India. Through the Knowledge Partner association with Fintech Valley Vizag, we are creating a vibrant ecosystem of partner start ups, BFSI players, investors, mentors, academia that would spur innovation in Vizag,” said Neha Punater, partner and head, Fintech at KPMG in India.