(Rejected: 3)The Hong Kong Monetary Authority And The Bank Of Thailand Report On Creating A Joint Central Bank Digital Currency For Cross-Border Payments

Earlier on Tuesday, 22nd January 2020, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT), published a report on their joint Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). It is being described as a research project with the name "Project Inthanon-LionRock" and it is meant to foster cross-border payments.

HKMA's joint research project with the BOT is seen as an important first step to solving the problems of low efficiency and high costs in traditional cross-border payments, Mr Edmond Lau, Senior Executive Director of the HKMA said.

"With the use of blockchain technology, the innovative and unique solution not only addresses different technical issues in practical applications but also offers good references to the central banking community on the use of Central Bank Digital Currency," he stated.

According to the report, this project research was established as a result of the Memorandum of Understanding which was signed in May 2019 between the HKMA and the BOT to examine the utilization of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in cross-border payments. Following this was the establishment of a cross-border corridor network prototype which allowed banks in Hong Kong and Thailand to conduct funds transfers and foreign exchange transactions on a peer-to-peer basis, which helps reduce settlement layers.

Mr Mathee Supapongse, Deputy Governor of the BOT, noted that "the novel cross-border model is designed and developed as a PoC." He went further to assert that:

"The model offers a cross-border corridor network where participants can transfer funds instantaneously on a peer-to-peer basis and in an atomic PvP manner. The design and key findings of the project have added new dimensions to central bank communities’ studies on cross-border funds transfer area.”

Interestingly, this project dubbed "Project Inthanon-LionRock" was executed in December 2019. Comprising ten participating banks from both places, a

distributed ledger technology-based proof-of-concept (PoC) prototype was successfully developed.

By this recent report, the two authorities re-established their faith to proceed with further joint research work in relevant areas.