Media Release: Government partners with fintech firms to enable use of livestock as collateral
Simultaneously approved by both ministries, this is a significant event that supports Myanmar’s national goals in rural development through InfoCorp’s financial inclusion solution
Original article published here: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/government-partners-fintech-firms-enable-use-livestock-collateral.html
Yangon, Myanmar — 17 May 2018 — InfoCorp Technologies, a Singapore-registered fintech company and RGK+Z&A Group will partner with the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation and Myanma Insurance, an arm of the Ministry of Planning and Finance, to carry out a joint pilot project to perform Tamper-Proof Livestock Identification.
The agreement, which was signed yesterday, will involve identification and tagging of cows and buffalos for the purposes of building an official livestock registry, which will in turn, enable livestock to be used as collateral in the loan application process.
“This joint partnership will create a financial ecosystem that solves the risk of livestock insurance and potentially transforms the market into a force for development by enabling the use of livestock as collaterals,” said Mr. Roy Lai, Founder and CEO of InfoCorp Technologies.
InfoCorp Technologies will implement the service through Sentinel Chain, which it claims is the world’s first platform to accept the use of livestock as collateral. Through the platform, InfoCorp is also aiming to bring ordinary financial services such as banking, loans and insurance to less developed parts of the country to resolve challenges of small farmers in running their businesses without banking facilities.
The project will be carried out in selected areas of Myanmar, including Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw over a period of three months, after which Myanma Insurance will also be able to specify the premium rate of insurance for each cow and buffalo.
This platform becomes a utility for financial institutions to leverage on encrypted data to increase asset base and serve the loan demands so needed by the rural farming communities.
Dr Sandar Oo, Managing Director of Myanma Insurance, agreed that the move will contribute to the improvement of financial inclusion in Myanmar by leveraging on technology. It will also enrich the well-being and living standards of rural communities, she said.
“Our government has prioritised reform of the agriculture and rural sector. This study marks a significant effort to support and generate important data relating to livestock and livestock owners,” said Mr Zeya Mon, CEO of RGK+Z&A Group, which is a Singapore-Myanmar based company with business interests including in power, medical systems and electronics.
ABOUT InfoCorp Technologies Pte. Ltd
InfoCorp Technologies is a fintech company that provides the infrastructure to accelerate financial inclusion to unbanked and underserved communities through the use of blockchain technology. It designs solutions for small bank consortiums in emerging countries to facilitate inter-bank transactions using distributed ledger technologies and provides consultancy services to clearing house and central banks on implementations and testing of real-time payment systems, and also to corporate clients on implementations and operations of distributed ledger technologies for production use. For more information: https://infocorp.io/
ABOUT RGK+Z&A Group
RGK+Z&A Group is a Singapore-Myanmar based company with diverse business interests, having its footprints in Power, HVAC&R, Medical Systems, Electronics, Transport and Environmental. Started as an Engineering firm since 1996 for the Electric Power Market of Myanmar and has expanded the business with the various opportunities & needs of the Country development and infrastructure. Today, RGK+Z&A Group, with different business units, has an annual turnover about 100 Million USD. For more information: http://www.rgkzna.com
ABOUT Myanma Insurance
Myanma Insurance, the state-owned insurance company, was founded in 1952 and started as a life insurer. Currently, it provides both life and non-life insurance products and services. For more information: http://www.mminsurance.gov.mm/
ABOUT Department of Livestock Breeding and Veterinary
Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department is one of the institutions under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MOALI). For more information: https://www.moali.gov.mm/en/livestock-breeding-and-veterinary-department
Read article on Frontier Myanmar Burmese: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=939380626241872&id=563568467156425
