Seoul mayor banks on fintech to make city a top-five financial hub

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon speaks during the Seoul Fintech Week's opening ceremony at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in central Seoul on Wednesday. [SEOUL METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT]

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said he hopes to make the city a top-five financial center through fintech.

Oh's remarks came during his opening speech for Seoul Fintech Week, which began at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in central Seoul on Wednesday.

The Seoul mayor said that unprecedented difficulties in the financial investment market posed opportunities and challenges for the city to become a leading finance center.

He promised to increase the city's competitiveness in digital finance by making funds, creating a hub for digital finance in Yeouido, western Seoul, and training companies and personnel in the fintech industry.

The three-day event through Friday, co-hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), will focus on how fintech is changing people's lives. This marks the first global event hosted by the city government solely focused on fintech.

Financial experts and fintech industry insiders from overseas, such as Singapore and Hong Kong, will speak during the sessions held during the event to discuss further the future of the industry.

During Wednesday's opening ceremony, FSS. Gov. Lee Bok-hyun spoke in a welcome speech and promised to help expand opportunities for fintech companies in the city through so-called regulatory sandboxes, exempting new technologies from legal regulations.

Following the welcoming and opening speeches, three different sessions were held during the day, mainly on the industry's future, such as supervising the fintech industry and collaborating with other financial institutes, as well as the industry's status in different countries.

A total of 21 promotional booths will showcase fintech services and wares through Friday, including products from TravelWallet and Payup.

Visitors can gain further insights into the industry through programs hosted on Thursday and Friday. Global fintech experts from Korea, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong will join on Thursday to discuss the digital finance industry in their cities and countries.

Fintech companies will be invited to sessions on Friday to pitch their services to other financial and investment companies.

“The city government expects the Seoul Fintech Week will become an opportunity that leads to the growth of fintech businesses as well as sustainable development of the industry,” said Kim Tae-kyoon, the city government's deputy mayor for economic policy.

“We hope the event could also be a chance for Seoul to discover its strategies to become the next digital finance city.”

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]