Dear participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dr. Alfred Hannig

On behalf of the Central Bank of Armenia, I have the honor to welcome you on the 5th Eastern Europe and Central Asia Policy Initiative (ECAPI) virtual meeting. We were excited to host this meeting here in Armenia but, as you know, according to the current situation in the whole world, it became impossible to make it happen. However, we are pleased that the digitized world allows us to connect people from different countries and at the same time let us stay at our places safe and healthy.

We are proud to have a long history of productive cooperation with AFI. Armenia hosted working group meetings and Joint Learning Programmes and now we host the ECAPI Experts Group on Financial Inclusion Policy (EGFIP) virtual meeting.

I would like to mention the importance of ECAPI as a member-driven platform, which gives a range of possibilities to improve the availability and quality of financial services across the EECA region, develop consumer protection policy and strengthen financial literacy through exchanging the best practices and harmonizing approaches.

The EGFIP meeting is a great opportunity to share key achievements and current challenges of member countries and explore peer-learning opportunities to address specific challenges in responding to the current situation.

The pandemic and its impact on financial and other sectors is a proof of how important is developing digital financial services and having strong system of consumer protection. It also has risen the importance of financial education so specific and targeted educational activities should be developed and addressed.

We hope that the upcoming webinar days will be productive. Your participation and sharing knowledge is highly appreciated.

Once again, welcome. I am confident that you will have days full of interesting, productive and useful presentations.