'Asian Digital Finance Forum & Awards' was recently hosted by the Asian FinTech Academy (AFTA) in collaboration with Colorado, USA based American Academy of Project Management (AAPM) and Global Academy of Finance and Management (GAFM) in a hybrid format virtually and in-person at Hilton Colombo.

University of Hong Kong Kerry Holdings Professor in Law Douglas W. Arner, National University of Singapore Jardine Cycle & Carriage Professor of Finance Jin-Chuan Duan, National University of Singapore Department of Finance Senior Lecturer Dr. Emir Hrnjic, Citibank former Managing Director and Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE) Co-founder Huy Nguyen Trieu and University of Oxford Saïd Business School Entrepreneurship Expert and CFTE Co-founder Tram Anh Nguyen delivered speeches virtually at the event.

There were a number of industry experts and professionals participating at the event including Central Bank of Sri Lanka Assistant Governor Dharmasri Kumaratunge, People's Bank Chairman Sujeewa Rajapakse, Fintech Association of Japan Vice-Chair Takeshi Kito, FreeBalance Vice President Matthew Olivier, Fintech Association of Sri Lanka (FASL) Senior Adviser Tissa Jayaweera.

Takeshi Kito was interviewed by iLoan (a fintech startup) Co-founder Lakshan de Silva on Japanese fintech ecosystem.

FreeBalance, a global Public Financial Management (PFM) solutions, and advisory services firm, which is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, with a 38-year track record of success and operations in more than 25 countries was recognized with the 'Excellence in Public Finance Reform' award. It has been working with the Government of Sri Lanka since 2013 and the Integrated Treasury Management Information System (ITMIS) built on the FreeBalance Accountability Suite, has supported a number of important reforms in the country.

The major banks in Sri Lanka were recognized including Bank of Ceylon with the “Best People's Banking Service Initiative” award, Commercial Bank with the “Best Frictionless Credit Evaluation Initiative”, Hatton National Bank with the “Best IOT Initiative” and People's Bank with the “Best Mobile Electronic Payment Initiative”.

A few international eminent professionals and entrepreneurs were recognized including Liudas Kanapienis (Lithuanian Founder and CEO, Ondato) with the “Outstanding FinTech Entrepreneur in Baltic Europe” award, Laura Guobužaite (Head, Fintech Lithuania) with the “Outstanding Woman FinTech Leader in Baltic Europe”, Huy Nguyen Trieu with the “Outstanding Financial Innovation Visionary”, Tram Anh Nguyen with the “Outstanding Woman FinTech Ecosystem Leader”, Takeshi Kito with the “Outstanding FinTech Leader in Japan”, Chia Hock Lai (Founding President, Singapore FinTech Association) with the “Outstanding FinTech Ecosystem Leader”, Iman Mutlaq (Jordanian Entrepreneur & Financier) with the “Outstanding Woman Financial Innovation Leader in Middle East”; and Mirna Sleiman (Lebanese Founder of Fintech Galaxy) with the “Outstanding Woman FinTech Influencer in Middle East”.

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