H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance (UNSGSA), will participate virtually in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Davos Agenda 2021 as a panelist in a session called "Resetting Digital Currencies" on 25 January. The theme of the Davos Agenda 2021 will be “A Crucial Year to Rebuild Trust”, while the entire event will be held 25-29 January. This digital summit is an addition to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, which has been postponed to 25-28 May 2021 in Singapore due to COVID-19.
The UNSGSA will appear on a panel about the shift from physical to digital money. The Special Advocate will appear alongside fellow panelists, including, among others, Hikmet Ersek, President and Chief Executive Officer at Western Union, Andrew Bailey, Governor at Bank of England, and Glenn H. Hutchins, Chairman at North Island and North Island Ventures, and Co-Founder Silver Lake Partners. As UNSGSA, Queen Máxima regularly discusses how new digital forms of money could contribute to better access to and safe use of financial services.
In 2020, Queen Máxima became a member of the Steering Committee of the Digital Currency Governance Consortium of the WEF. The Steering Committee brings together public and private sector decision makers to explore the opportunities and risks of global digital currencies, to find common solutions to barriers to their adoption, and to create market efficiency. Queen Máxima was asked to join due to her experience with inclusive financing to increase the opportunities for economic and social development, especially for the poor.
On 25 January, Queen Máxima will also participate in a private virtual meeting of the online payment system PayPal. The CEO of PayPal, Dan Schulman, is a member of the CEO Partnership for Economic Inclusion, an informal partnership of 10 international companies which work on projects that help make financial services more accessible to their customers with a strong business case.