Bank Indonesia (BI) and the Bank of Korea (BoK) have signed a memorandum of understanding in the area of cross-border payments, reflecting the implementation of a 2022 bilateral cooperation agreement on central banking.

The memorandum, signed by BI governor Perry Warjiyo and BoK governor Rhee Chang-Yong on July 15 in Penang, Malaysia, aims to accelerate closer cooperation on interoperability and establish a framework to facilitate cross-border payment connectivity between the two countries.

The implementation of the memorandum will not only create cheaper, faster, more inclusive and transparent cross-border payments between Indonesia and South Korea, the banks say, it will promote the digital economies and finance of both countries and significantly benefit their tourism sectors, especially considering the high number of tourists travelling between the two countries.

More importantly, they add, the agreement marks “a significant step towards a more interconnected and efficient financial landscape”.