Are we prepared to navigate through a fast-changing global trade landscape?

Global trade has never been more challenging than it is now. Increasing protectionism, GVC shocks because of the pandemic, ever-increasing geopolitical tensions, and enhanced focus on ESG are a few of the many challenges faced by global corporates.

For the United Kingdom, the situation is even worse. Uncertainty still exists with regards to post-Brexit trade relations between the UK and EU. According to a survey conducted by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), 23% of British businesses have halted sales temporarily to European countries. Whereas 11% of the British businesses are considering halting sales to the EU permanently. 70% of the British businesses have suffered shipment delays for goods arriving from the EU.

As per a report published by EY, 69% of the businesses have mentioned that rising protectionism and new trade barriers are their biggest international trade concern. Whereas 64% of the businesses believe enhanced emphasis on sustainability and climate action to be their biggest concern.

The glaring commonality in both surveys is, the businesses in general and Boards in particular- are not prepared to navigate through these complex challenges. Most of the businesses are taking a reactive approach by trying to do the catch-up work with new regulations coming in. Their engagement with the trade policymakers is either minimum or doesn’t exist at all.

Technological disruption is another area where businesses are struggling to catch up with the pace. Global organizations like the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) have some exciting work to digitalize global trade.

In 2020, ICC set up the Digital trade Standards Initiative (DSI) in Singapore with support from Singapore Government and the Asian Development Bank. This is now the global hub coordinating ICC programme, working with all the major institutions [WTO, WCO, UNESCAP, and UNCITRA] and global industry bodies [Bimco, IATA]. DSI will promote greater economic inclusion through the development of open trade standards.

Similarly, ICC United Kingdom has recently commissioned a business case for legal reforms report through Coriolis technologies. This is the first to publish the economic value of digital trade by harmonizing laws in the UK.

• ?￡225 billion efficiency savings
• ￡25 billion new SME growth [25% extra SME trade by 2024]
• ￡1 billion additional trade finance [50% UK trade finance gap]
• 75% reduction in the number of days needed for processing trade documents
• 35% improvement in business efficiency for SMEs

All of this exciting work and much more will be discussed during the conference, ICC United Kingdom is convening: International Trade and Prosperity Week (ITPW) on 18th-22nd Oct 2021.

Over five days of this conference, there will be 12 sessions, 55+ speakers, 600+ delegates from across the globe. If you are a trade practitioner, industry leader, or policymaker- the conference will provide exclusive insights into global trade policy and its impact on businesses including SMEs. Please reserve your place using this link