Regional Learning Hub Aimed at Improving Financial Literacy
INSEAD and Citigroup, the leading global financial services company, today officially launched a new regional learning hub, the Financial Education Exchange or ‘FinEdx’, dedicated to improving financial literacy levels in Asia Pacific. The first of its kind in the region, FinEdx is an on-line knowledge and learning portal designed to support the financial education community, and increase the number, quality, and accessibility of teaching programs so that more people are able to make sound financial decisions. FinEdx is funded by a grant from the Citigroup Foundation, and access to FinEdx will be free for the first year.
The FinEdx website (www.finedx.org) offers downloadable teaching materials, research reports, best practice case studies, and impact assessment tools, as well as contact information for existing financial education program providers both locally and internationally. The site features online discussion boards that allow financial education providers to connect and converse. Another notable service of FinEdx will be its on-line training facility, providing leaders of not-for-profit organizations around Asia Pacific with additional skills in areas such as strategy, performance management, and financial management.
At the launch of FinEdx, several organizations that actively promote financial education signed in as inaugural members. These included representatives from non-profit organizations, regulatory and other government bodies, education authorities, and private sector companies such as AWARE (Association of Women for Action and Research), Bank Negara Malaysia, Central Provident Fund, Monetary Authority of Singapore, National Institute of Education, Learning Society and Visa International.
Ashok Vaswani, CEO, Asia Pacific Consumer Banking, Citigroup, said, “Citigroup is proud to be a founding partner of FinEdx with INSEAD. We believe that by helping financial education providers in the region to deliver new programs and more effective programs, FinEdx has the potential to increase the financial literacy levels of millions of people.”
“Social Corporate Responsibility is a theme frequently discussed at INSEAD. As an academic institution, we are now directly involved in contributing to society at large,” said Professor Hellmut Schutte, Dean, INSEAD Asia Campus. “This is indeed a new and exciting venture for INSEAD”.
During the FinEdx launch event, Citigroup and INSEAD also announced the second Citigroup-INSEAD Financial Education Summit to be held on December 12th-13th, 2005 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Over 250 participants from around the world are expected to convene at this conference that will focus on advancing financial literacy for youth and adults in Asia Pacific.
