Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands will visit the Republic of India from Tuesday 23 to Thursday 25 June in her capacity as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Financial Health (UNSGSA), at the invitation of the Government of India. During the three-day visit, she will speak with users of financial services, the government, development organizations, and businesses about services and policies that contribute to the financial resilience and financial well-being of the Indian population. Queen Máxima will conclude her visit with a proposed meeting with His Excellency Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India's leaders have overseen a remarkable transformation in financial access. The percentage of adults with a financial account increased from 56 percent to approximately 89 percent in just the last 10 years. Building on this impressive progress, Queen Máxima will advocate for further emphasis on the full scope of household financial health – embracing policies, tools, and products that will help Indians better manage day-to-day payments, build resilience to unexpected shocks, save for long- and short-term goals, and gain confidence in their futures.
On the first day of the visit, in Mumbai, Queen Máxima will speak with Indians from diverse backgrounds to learn about the challenges and opportunities they face when it comes to their financial health. She will meet with young clients of the neo bank Jupiter Money, which offers an app that provides digital banking, payments, savings, investments, and financial guidance in one place. She will then hear from nurses at the HCG Colaba Hospital, who benefit from salary-linked workplace financial health products provided by the organization SalarySe.
Following these client visits, Queen Máxima will hold a focus group with low-income beneficiaries of India's 'Jan Dhan' program, a government initiative which provides households with affordable access to banking and financial services. During the discussion, hosted by global consulting firm MicroSave Consulting (MSC), participants will share their financial challenges, aspirations, and opportunities to strengthen financial health.
The UNSGSA will then host co-host roundtable discussion with private sector leaders, convened by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Flourish Ventures. Participants will discuss the use of AI to tailor financial guidance to people's saving and investing needs, helping them better manage money, build resilience, and plan for future goals. The day will conclude with a showcase on digital fraud in India, and ongoing initiatives to counter fraud and scams.
On June 24, the UNSGSA will chair two roundtables in Mumbai – one with The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth on important efforts to measure consumer financial health in India, and one on women's financial health, organized by CGAP. She will conclude her time in Mumbai by meeting with the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Sanjay Malhotra, to discuss how policies and regulation can contribute to positive financial health outcomes.
Queen Máxima will be in New Delhi on June 25, where she will start the day by hearing from four leading Indian fintechs about their innovative financial health solutions. This 'demo day' is curated by IIMA Ventures and will be followed by a fireside chat at the Gates Foundation office.
The United Nations India office, under the leadership of the Resident Coordinator, will host meetings at their offices in New Delhi on June 25th. The EkStep Foundation and the UNSGSA will also co-host a roundtable at UN House on how Digital Public Infrastructure can strengthen financial health.
Queen Máxima's final meeting at the UN will be with Indian informal sector workers who work as golf caddies and domestic help. They will share how the Singapore-headquartered organization Universal Pensions helped them activate their National Pension System retirement accounts. Many informal workers in India have difficulty accessing formal retirement savings, and this pension inclusion program has helped vulnerable people invest in their futures.
Queen Máxima will conclude her visit with a proposed meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to share and discuss her findings.
This is Queen Máxima's fourth visit to India in her UN capacity. She previously visited in 2014, 2018, and 2022. She will be supported during her visit by members of the UNSGSA Reference Group, including CGAP, the Gates Foundation, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA), Flourish Ventures, and the United Nations.