Frankfurt — President of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG), Natia Turnava, held a meeting with representatives of the Chinese Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) on the sidelines of the international SIBOS conference, organized by SWIFT. The meeting focused on assessing ongoing cooperation and outlining future collaboration plans between the two financial institutions.

The NBG and CIPS have been cooperating since the summer of 2024, following the visit of CIPS President Fu Huang to Tbilisi at the invitation of the NBG. During his visit, Fu Huang met with senior officials from Georgian commercial banks to explore procedures for joining the CIPS network. Several Georgian banks are already indirectly connected to the system through correspondent Chinese banks.

At the meeting in Frankfurt, both sides reviewed progress made so far and agreed to deepen cooperation in the near future. President Turnava emphasized that as China remains one of Georgia’s largest trading partners, there is growing potential and demand for Georgian financial institutions to join the CIPS platform directly.

She highlighted that under the initiative of the NBG, Georgia’s payment systems are continuously evolving. Integration with CIPS will not only enhance the country’s cross-border payment infrastructure but also support the growing trade and tourism flows between Georgia and China.

“Connecting to the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System will provide Georgian financial institutions with an additional channel for processing payments in Chinese Yuan,” said Turnava. “This will allow for faster, more flexible, and cost-effective transactions that meet the evolving needs of users.”

The move is expected to further diversify Georgia’s international payment options and strengthen its financial ties with global partners, particularly in Asia.