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PROJECT 1 RECOMMENDATIONS

The national financial inclusion program supportsmicrofinance, mobile financial services for theunbanked, and supports small medium enterprises(SME) particularly for women.

• Updated stats of key MFS players not available• Research lacks focus on women and SME• Internet penetration is a big problem• Need more comprehensive overall FinTech policy• More clarity on digital currency

E-mail: shubhi_thakuria@berkeley.eduPhone: +1-330-310-0789

Navigating FinTech and EdTech in the Asia Pacific: A Case of Bangladesh By- Shubhi Thakuria

About UNESCAP:• Regional development arm of UN, established in 1947• Covers 53 countries of Asia-Pacific• Largest UN body in the region with over 600 staffDepartment: ICT and Disaster Risk Reduction (IDD)Location: Bangkok, ThailandDuration: May - July 2018Key Deliverables: Policy Brief & Case Study for Research

The internship project was initially intended to explore theinteraction between women, small medium enterprises,and green growth in the Asia Pacific. Once the projectstarted on field due to the lack of data and interest ofmember nations the scope of work was modified to lookinto FinTech in the Asia Pacific with a focus onBangladesh. I also got the opportunity to work on anotherproject in EdTech in Bangladesh in collaboration with theUNESCO.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

FinTech enables consumers to fulfill their financial needs online by digitally facilitating financialservices. Some of the common services includes: lending, saving, payment, and remittance

FINTECH LANDSCAPE IN BANGLADESHBangladesh has a population of approximately 166 million in 2018, where nearly half of thepeople aged 15 or above lack a bank account[1]. Globally, 3% of the 1.7 billion unbanked peoplelive in Bangladesh[2]. The trends of account ownership are shown in Figure 1[3]. There is asignificant rise in the people with accounts and mobile money accounts but the gender differencesare strikingly prominent in both the cases, the difference between males and females with a bankaccount is 29 percentage points and the difference between males and females with mobile moneyaccounts is 22 percentage points. The rapid increase in the number of people with mobile phonesand internet subscription in Bangladesh as shown in figure 2 has provided new avenues for thecountry to bank its unbanked people and hence promote financial inclusion [4,5].

EVOLUTION OF FINTECH FROM FINANCEThe financial system in Bangladesh started developing since its independence in 1971. Presently,the finance sector in the country consists of five state-owned commercial banks, 39 domesticcommercial banks, nine foreign banks, three specialized banks, four non-scheduled banks andnearly 700 licensed microfinance institutions (MFIs)[6]. FinTech started marking its presence inBangladesh in 2011. Mobile Financial Services (MFS is the key area of FinTech which is gettingpopular and acceptable in the Bangladesh.

PROJECT 1: FINTECH - AN OPPORTUNITY TO BANK THE UNBANKED

Elements Brief tasksIdentify scope

Prepare statement of work , Learn the work of UNESCAP, Understand project goals, and constraints, Arrange travel logistics

Identify definitions

Literature review to identify the definitions, Interview relevant stakeholder, Identify theory of change

Focus areas Narrow the sub-regional focus in the Asia Pacific, Prioritize from: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka)

Research Question

Identify the key questions and areas of focus by consulting various stakeholders

Qualitative Research

Narrow the stakeholders, Interview them; Identify and document cases

Partnerships Assess potential resource/data sharing partners, Partner with other UNESCAP departments- Macroeconomic Policy and Social Development department, Partner with UNESCO for EdTech project,

Quantitative Research

Identify available datasets- JSTOR, World Bank Data, IMF Data, Wiley Online, UN iLibrary, ProQuest, Identify indicators of interest

Future work Phase 2 or not, Capstone or notOut of Scope Actual data collection and data entry,

Legal work, Implementation or testing of any intervention, Establishing formal partnerships with the project stakeholders

SCOPE OF WORK

METHODOLOGY

Literature Review, Key information Interviews, andDatabase search, Research, Trend and market analysis,stakeholder and staff interview

INTERNSHIP

ICT TRENDS IN BANGLADESHBangladesh is a country in Southern Asia with a moderate literacy rateof 72.76%[7] and low internet penetration rate of 13.2 % in 2016[8]. Theincrease in the number of internet subscribers as shown in figure 2clearly demonstrates the demand for internet, but it is not in conjunctionwith the supply of internet[9,10]. Bangladesh was ranked 147 from 176countries in ICT Development Index (IDI)[11].

LINKING ICT AND EDUCATION- STATUS OF SDG 4UN’S SDG 4 ensure inclusive and equitable quality education andpromote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Bangladesh is one ofthe early starter countries in the implementation of the SDGs. With thesupport of UNDP, the planning commission of Bangladesh prepared the7th Five Year Plan 2016-2020 in coordination with the targets ofSDGs[12].

DATA GAPS FOR SDG 4SDG 4 has a total of 10 targets with 11 indicators. A study conducted bythe planning commission of Bangladesh on “Data Gap Analysis forSDGs: Bangladesh Perspective” found that data of out of ten, twoindicators (4.6.1, 4.c.1) are readily available, six indicators are partiallyavailable (4.1.1, 4.3.1, 4.4.1, 4.5.1, 4.a.1, 4.b.1), and the data is notavailable for the other three indicators (4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.7.1)[13]. Thoughthe study claims the partial availability of six indicators, but, it does notpoint to the resource where it can be found.

The slow speed, high cost, and limited outreach of internet possesshurdle towards the inclusion of ICT in education in Bangladesh. Basedon our study, we figured out the following areas for Bangladesh to focusfor promoting ICT in Education:• Measurement SDG 4 indicators: The data pertaining to internet and

mobile phone subscribers was reading available but there is still adearth of data on quality education as listed in SDG 4. This needs tobe tracked and measured more concretely.

• Impact Evaluation: The evaluation of the key programsimplemented in the ICT and Education section: This will help thegovernment decided what worked and what did not and henceachieve the SDG 4.

• Improvement in Internet Development Index and InclusiveInternet Index: These internationally recognized matrixes could helpthe country get an idea of its progress compared to other nations inthe region and March towards achieving SDGs.

PROJECT 2: EDTECH – PATHYWAY TO BOOST LITERACY

Figure 1: Account ownership trends by gender and year in BangladeshData Source: Findex 2017 by World Bank, Graph- Shubi Thakuria

References:[1] ww.worldometers.info/world-population/bangladesh-population/ [2][2]globalfindex.worldbank.org/sites/globalfindex/files/chapters/2017%20Findex%20full%20report_chapter2.pdf[3]www.worldbank.org/en/programs/globalfindex[4]www.btrc.gov.bd/content/mobile-phone-subscribers-bangladesh-january-2017[5]www.btrc.gov.bd/content/internet-subscribers-bangladesh-january-2018[6] www.cashlearning.org/downloads/mfsinbangladeshapril2015.pdf[7]http://uis.unesco.org/country/BD[8]http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users-by-country/[9]http://www.btrc.gov.bd/content/mobile-phone-subscribers-bangladesh-january-2017[10]http://www.btrc.gov.bd/content/internet-subscribers-bangladesh-january-2018[11]https://www.itu.int/net4/ITU-D/idi/2017/index.html[12]https://info.undp.org/docs/pdc/Documents/BGD/SSIP_Annual_Report_2016-17.pdf[13]http://www.plancomm.gov.bd/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/SDG-DATA-Gap-Final-Draft.pdf

Figure 2: Mobile Phone and Internet Subscription Data Source: Bangladesh Government, Graph- Shubhi Thakuria

PROJECT 2 RECOMMENDATIONS

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