JICA Participates PoC of the Future Payments in PNG – Digital Kina

JICA PNG Office has taken part in the Proof of Concept (PoC) of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), a project spearheaded by the Bank of PNG (BPNG) with support from the Japanese company, Soramitsu Co. Ltd.. PoC of the CBDC was conducted from Dec. 2024 to Jan. 2025 with the aim of understanding CBDC value flow and benefits, testing the application of new technology, and gathering feedback from the PoC participants to customize a production CBDC.

Mr. MATSUOKA Hideaki, Chief Representative of JICA PNG Office, delivered a special remark at the Ceremony for the Presentation of the Results of the Central Bank’s Preliminary Study’s into CBDC held at Hilton Hotel on Tuesday 28th January 2025. In his speech, Mr. Matsuoka congratulated the BPNG and Soramitsu for their successful implementation of the PoC, marking a significant first step towards the introduction of CBDC in PNG. He also highlighted the CBDC could have positive impacts in the economy by enabling efficient and swift money transactions and stimulating the country’s cash flows.

JICA will continuously work with Government and People of PNG to support the dissemination of the technology for the country’s bright future.