good to reconnect with friends , colleagues and partners and I ’ m looking forward to doing this more this year , splitting my time between China , US andEurope — even though I ’ ll have to go through quarantine a couple more times !
Q . IS THERE A PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT FROM THE PAST 12 MONTHS OF WHICH YOU ARE PARTICULARLY PROUD ?
» In the last 12 months , we have evolved to become a much more global business . We now support cross-border businesses across the US , UK , Europe , China and most of South-East Asia , leveraging the capabilities and learnings we first developed in China . We ’ ve been patiently laying the foundation for this over the last four years , building out our end-to-end global payment network , and it ’ s exciting to see all of this work come to fruition . I ’ m proud of our team who have embraced the challenges and opportunities of thinking and working from a global perspective , combined with their local expertise and knowledge .
Q . WHICH ACTIVITY ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO DOING WHEN NORMALITY RESUMES ?
» This is an exciting time for fintech because of the positive impact it has had during the pandemic and will have going forward . Fintech is the most powerful way to drive financial inclusion , particularly for small businesses . Harnessing new technologies like AI , blockchain and digital currencies will accelerate the drive towards greater inclusion . The growth of e-commerce during the pandemic has dramatically opened up opportunities for small businesses and we are focused on supporting local entrepreneurs become global entrepreneurs and take advantage of these new opportunities .