UK PM Starmer to attend Global Fintech Fest 2025 alongside PM Modi

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will join PM Modi at Global Fintech Fest 2025, the first foreign head of state to do so, with AI, licensing and stablecoins set to dominate discussions

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will attend the 2025 edition of the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) in Mumbai next month, one of the largest such gatherings globally.

 

Starmer is the first foreign head of state to attend the event to be held on October 7-9, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 

Vishwas Patel, chairman, Payments Council of India (PCI), said that the attendance of the UK PM comes at a time when the two countries are deepening bilateral cooperation, with an opportunity to focus on developing business, research, and innovation.

 

The points of discussion at the event include liberalised licensing regime for Indian fintech companies as they expand to other global jurisdictions. 

“We can discuss over the GFF the fact that can Indian entities, startups, payment systems, and fintechs, who lead the world in several aspects, have a sort of liberalised licensing regime as far as they are going to other jurisdictions or countries,” said G Padmanabhan, former executive director, Reserve Bank of India.

 

He added that there was a possibility of closed-door dialogues with regulators on the stance that India should take on stablecoins.

 

This comes in the backdrop of rising global popularity of the virtual digital asset (VDA).

 

“What is the stance that India as a country, Reserve Bank of India particularly, should take as far as the stablecoins are concerned, now that the US has come out with the e-currency? Now, probably, this is best discussed at the GFF event- may not be an open event, but there are close-door dialogues which happen with the regulators,” he added.

 

This year, GFF is expected to host more than 50 product launches and showcases. It is expected to host executives from at least 17 central banks across the world.

 

The theme for this year’s edition of GFF would focus on artificial intelligence (AI) in the area of finance.

 

The event would feature over 800 speakers and more than 7,500 companies would participate in the event expecting a footfall of over 100,000 attendees.

 

GFF is organised by industry bodies Payments Council of India (PCI), Fintech Convergence Council (FCC), and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).