Korea-Georgia Forum on „Open Banking & Open Finance“ and Digital Cooperation between the two countries

The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Tbilisi hosted its first ever forum on Open Banking & Open Finance on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. The forum, which was held in cooperation with the Ilia State University, brought together speakers from both Korea and Georgia who shared their expertise on the subject with the public audience. The main purpose of the event was to increase our knowledge base and awareness of open finance and seek areas of future collaboration between the two countries.

The two speakers visiting from Korea spoke about their practices in Korea titled: “Expanding the Open Banking Ecosystem” (by Ms. Young Jin Kim, Head of International Business, Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute”) and “The Overview of Financial MyData in Korea” (by Mr. Kwang Seok Choi, Senior Manager, Korea Credit Information Services). Also, three speakers from Georgia, 1) Mr. Varlam Ebanoidze, Head of FinTech and SupTech Development of the National Bank of Georgia, 2) Mr. Aleksi Khoroshvili, Founder & CEO of JSC Silk Bank, and 3) Mr. Papuna Lezhava, Co-Founder & CEO of Keepz, shared their practices and expertise on the subject.

A recent surge in AI technology is pushing us into the world that we are only beginning to imagine. We often hear about the use of AI in computing, robotics (physical AI), manufacturing, medicine & healthcare, and even in education/research. This is also true for the finance industry. Topics of FinTech (short for financial technology) such as digital transactions & banking, automated investing & lending, and embedded finances, will all be AI driven in the future.

These topics can be tedious and difficult to grasp, because they are technical and full of jargon unfamiliar to most of us. But money and technology are two of the most important aspects of our lives that affect us deeply and determine the way we live and operate in the world. So, in my opening remarks at the forum, I challenged the audience to imagine the future of our financial management. I said let’s collectively imagine how our own money would be spent and managed in the future, because what was once thought impossible, has now become, not only possible, but inevitable.

Also, at the forum, I introduced to the audience the digital cooperation between Korea and Georgia that is beginning to take shape. In the government sector, the Minister of Justice of Georgia, H.E. Paata Salia visited Korea last month in September to sign an MOU on digital government cooperation. As follow-up measures, the two governments came together for AI Policy Forum in Tbilisi earlier this month, and both sides have just launched the AI Digital Government Cooperation Center, which is a 3-year, a million dollar, joint project between the two governments to learn best practices from each other to advance digital governance and innovations in public service areas.

Moreover, there is an on-going exchange project between the central banks of Korea and Georgia, which we call Knowledge Partnership Program, or KPP. Last year’s exchange between the two national banks focused on “Promoting Cashless Payment in Georgia” while this year’s focus is on “Open Banking, Open Finance Initiatives.” In large part, the forum served as an extension of this on-going exchange.

Through the forum, we were able to openly discuss and increase our awareness of FinTech in the public/private sectors and envision the road ahead. I hope that Korea and Georgia can expand the current collaboration so that experts from both sides may continue to build on their shared knowledge base and direct us toward better future. So, let us share our expertise, our best practices, and future aspirations in digital/AI cooperation so that we can build a lasting partnership that would be beneficial and enriching for all of us. /End/

Op-ed Contribution By Amb. Hyon Du Kim / 2026.10.21,

Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Tbilisi