Latest news with #Bakong
Business Recorder
7 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
SBP partners with Japan's Soramitsu for digital currency rollout: report
In a major step towards digitisation, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is working with Soramitsu, a Japanese blockchain technology developer, to pilot a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the country this year, reported Nikkei Asia on Tuesday. As per the report, the digital Pakistani rupee pilot will be run on Soramitsu's CBDC platform with funding from the Global South Future-Oriented Co-Creation Project of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. 'Many transactions in rural areas are cash-based, even for wage payments, and the rate of people with bank accounts is low,' Masato Toriya, associate professor at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and specialist in Pakistan, told Nikkei Asia. As per the report, the CBDC intends to address the problem of high cash distribution costs. Soramitsu, which developed Cambodia's Bakong digital currency, says the Pakistan initiative - covering 250 million people and a $400 billion economy - is its largest to date. The Tokyo-based company is also developing offline CBDC capabilities to enable smartphone transactions without internet access, positioning the initiative as a potential model for other developing economies. Last month, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad informed that the central bank is preparing to launch a pilot for a digital currency and is finalising legislation to regulate virtual assets. Speaking at the Reuters NEXT Asia summit in Singapore, Ahmad said Pakistan was 'building up our capacity on the SBP digital currency' and hoped to roll out a pilot soon. He added that a new law would 'lay down the foundations for the licensing and regulation' of the virtual assets sector and that the SBP was already in touch with some tech partners. In recent months, Pakistan has ramped up efforts to modernise its financial system with the establishment of the government-backed Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC), set up in March to drive virtual asset adoption. The PCC is exploring bitcoin mining using surplus energy and has appointed Binance founder Changpeng Zhao as a strategic adviser and plans to establish a state-run bitcoin reserve. It has also held talks with US-based crypto firms, including the Trump-linked World Liberty Financial. In May, the SBP clarified that virtual assets were not illegal. However, it advised financial institutions not to engage with them until a formal licensing framework was in place.
The Star
05-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
Cambodia and Japan launch first phase of cross-border QR code payment linkage
PHNOM PENH (Xinhua): Cambodia and Japan have launched the first phase of cross-border QR code payment connection, said a press release from the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC). NBC's Governor Chea Serey presided over the launch event in Osaka, Japan. "This official launch will allow Cambodian citizens to experience the efficient, convenient, and seamless cross-border payment by using the Bakong app or Mobile banking apps to scan JPQR codes in Japan," the press release said. "This initiative underscores Cambodia's advancement in establishing a digital infrastructure for cross-border transactions, fostering collaboration and mutual growth," it added. The second phase, which will be launched later, will enable Japanese users to pay in Cambodia by scanning KHQR. - Xinhua
CBC
28-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Gatineau's street names should reflect city's Black history, researcher argues
Out of thousands of streets in Gatineau, Que., so few are named after Black people that you could count them on one hand, according to a political science researcher urging the city to make changes. Patrice Emery Bakong, a Ph.D candidate at the Université de Montréal who's based in the western Quebec city, investigated how many streets and other public places in Quebec are named after Black people. He was surprised to find they were so poorly represented, considering that as of 2021 Black people make up around 10 per cent of Gatineau's population. "It's only a matter of justice, because we are all people of Gatineau," said Bakong. "I have two young children ... and I want them to have something they can hold onto." Bakong reached out to city staff to talk about how they can be more inclusive of the Black community, and is slated to present his research to city council on Monday. "I want to change the rules [about] how the streets and public spaces are named after people," Bakong said. Just 2 streets, one alley, one park According to Bakong's research, two streets, one park and one alley in Gatineau are named after Black Canadians: La Ruelle and Le Parc Jean-Gardy-Bienvenu are named after a 12-year-old boy who drowned in Montreal. Rue Jean-Alfred is named after the first Black member of the National Assembly of Quebec. Rue Oxford is named after London Oxford, the first Black settler in the Ottawa Valley. Recognition like this is vital, said Gatineau's only Black councillor, Bettyna Bélizaire. "It's about a sense of belonging," she said. "There are a lot of people from African descent that have helped build the Quebec that we know today, and their names need to be recognized." Gatineau has seen its Black community grow significantly in the last 20 years, Bélizaire added, making it doubly important to recognize them. Struggles and solutions A wave of Black people immigrated to Gatineau around the start of the 21st century, Bakong said, and the population has kept growing since then. But since that population is relatively young compared to other demographics, there's a unique barrier to getting recognition on public infrastructure, Bakong said. In Quebec, people must be dead for at least a year before something can be named after them — a rule Bakong thinks should go. "It's not fair for Black people," he said. One way around the rule, Bélizaire argued, is to use the names of Black people whose influence was international. And she and Bakong both suggested using other words instead of names, like "Négritude," a cultural and political movement among French-speaking Black people. Coun. Isabelle N. Miron, vice-president of the Gatineau Toponymy Committee, told Radio-Canada in French they've strived to promote inclusivity. Those efforts, Miron said, have included renaming Rue Amherst — which honoured a controversial British general whose legacy regarding Indigenous people has long been debated — to Rue Wigwàs, which means "white birch" in Anishinabeg. The same efforts should be made for the Black community, she said. Bélizaire said it's important to ensure residents know they can propose names. The city reviews submissions, she said, and cultivates a list to use for future projects. One Black person's name is on that list now: Marielle Lapaix, a businesswoman who was known as the "grandmother of the entire Haitian community in Gatineau." If the one-year rule was dropped, Bélizaire suggested honouring former city councillor Mireille Apollon, a recipient of the Order of Gatineau and the Prix québécois de la citoyenneté.
