Introduction
SMEs supply the specialised inputs, services, and logistics that underpin global value chains. Their integration into international trade is essential, and policies that lower barriers can dramatically increase their participation in global markets.
Introduction
SMEs are central to Agro-value chains and labour-intensive manufacturing. They process, pack, and add value to raw goods, enabling small producers to reach international markets and sustain livelihoods.
Introduction
SMEs are agile but financially vulnerable. They lack buffers, so shocks such as pandemics, shipping disruptions, and commodity swings hit them hard. Targeted support enables rapid adaptation and keeps trade networks functioning.
Introduction
Despite their importance, SMEs face persistent barriers to scaling internationally. Constraints in finance, compliance, digital access, and managerial skills limit global participation.
Introduction
Digital innovation, financial technology, and green upgrading are transforming the way SMEs engage in global trade. Digital marketplaces, traceability systems, and fintech solutions lower entry costs, expand market access, and enable SMEs to participate in sustainable supply chains. Meanwhile, environmental sustainability is increasingly a prerequisite for global market inclusion.
Introduction
A coherent policy approach is essential to maximize SME contributions to trade, innovation, and employment. Governments and trade partners can enable SMEs to overcome barriers, scale sustainably, and meet international standards through coordinated interventions.
By the Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA)
Introduction
SMEs are central to sustainable, resilient, and inclusive trade. As climate change and social inclusion become priorities, SME participation in global markets is critical. Supporting SMEs to decarbonize, scale sustainably, and integrate into trade networks is essential for achieving global economic and environmental goals.
As 2025 has closed, organisations and SMEs have navigated an environment of unprecedented complexity—rapid digital transformation, shifting trade policies, and supply chain disruptions.
Looking ahead, 2026 promises even greater unpredictability in global trade, digital commerce, and regulatory landscapes. In such a dynamic context, building resilient, adaptable trade capability is no longer optional—it’s essential.
As 2025 comes to a close, we want to thank our community for your continued support during a challenging year for global trade and supply chains. This year tested every SME—and everyone supporting SMEs in global trade—but it also reinforced the importance of resilience, adaptability, and building strong foundations for the future.
In today’s fast-changing global marketplace, a resilient and diversified supply chain is key to your SME’s success. The Supply Chain Survival Toolkitprovides you with the expertise, practical tools, and credentials to navigate complexity and stay competitive—now and into the future.
Global commerce is increasingly complex. Shifting tariffs, evolving regulations, and supply chains that sometimes seem to move according to their own mysterious logic can leave even the savviest SMEs scratching their heads. In fact, if there were a Global Tariff and Paperwork Apocalypse (GTPA) ranking, many small businesses might feel they’re perpetually on the leaderboard.
2025 has tested the resilience of every SME — from supply chain shocks to shifting trade rules and unpredictable markets.
If your team has been in survival mode, you’re not alone. The challenge now is turning survival into stability.
Are you an SME ready to navigate the complexities of international trade and logistics? The SME Survival Toolkit equips your business with essential knowledge, practical tools, and recognised credentials to thrive in the global marketplace.
Are you an SME ready to conquer the complexities of international trade and logistics? The SME Logistics Survival Kit is designed just for you—a comprehensive, flexible package that equips you with the knowledge, tools, and credentials to thrive in the global marketplace.
Modern agriculture often draws on high-tech inputs and monocultures, but globally, Indigenous and traditional farming systems continue to show how deeply rooted ecological knowledge can deliver sustainable productivity — and even become part of international trade. Across continents, communities are reviving ancestral methods, stewarding biodiversity, and producing unique crops that command niche markets around the world.
Pollinators’ contributions extend beyond crop yields; they also produce honey, a product that combines economic value, cultural significance, and ecological insight. Often called “liquid gold,” honey reflects the health of the ecosystems from which it comes and the skill of those who cultivate it.
As global agriculture faces rising pressures from climate change, habitat loss, and growing populations, technology is emerging as a vital tool to support pollinators.
Advanced solutions are transforming how we monitor, manage, and even supplement pollinator activity, bridging ecological needs with human innovation.
If you sell, source, ship, assemble, or distribute products across borders, you’re probably focused on the things that feel most immediate: logistics, supplier pricing, margins, product listings, packaging, and delivery timelines.
Modern science increasingly validates what Indigenous and traditional communities have known for centuries: pollinators thrive when human practices work in harmony with nature.
Across the globe, these communities have developed sustainable practices that maintain biodiversity, protect habitats, and optimise agricultural cycles.
Introduction
SMEs are engines of job creation, innovation, and income generation. They often employ youth and women, providing pathways out of poverty and reducing inequality. Their experimental capacity drives local innovation, with successful practices often scaling into broader markets.
Pollinators are the silent partners in agriculture and global trade, yet their protection requires deliberate action from both policymakers and industry leaders.
Securing the future of pollination means integrating ecological stewardship directly into trade and agricultural systems.
Part 1 — Backbone: Why SMEs Matter Everywhere
Introduction
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the engine room of every economy—they make up most firms, create most jobs, and link local production to global markets. Protecting and enabling SMEs is central to resilient, inclusive trade. They operate across every sector, from manufacturing to tech to services, underpinning economic diversity and local resilience.
Chile Pacific Foundation Hosts Webinar on Strengthening Chile–Australia Collaboration
The Chile Pacific Foundation is pleased to invite participants to an insightful webinar dedicated to exploring the full potential for collaboration, trade, and investment between Chile and Australia. This special event comes at a significant moment, as both nations celebrate the 80th anniversary of their diplomatic relations—an ideal backdrop for renewed dialogue and future-focused partnerships.
Over the past weekend, Australia experienced a notable shift in its trade landscape. The United States lifted tariffs on more than 200 food products, including Australian beef, while the Albanese government advanced its internal agenda to abolish hundreds of low-revenue “nuisance tariffs.” Together, these developments underscore a growing commitment to open trade and economic efficiency, promising opportunities for exporters and cost reductions for domestic businesses.
Argentina has faced recurring economic crises, leading to repeated interventions by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Since joining the IMF in 1956, the country has participated in approximately 23 financial arrangements, among the highest globally. The most recent program, approved on 11 April 2025, established a US$20 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to stabilise the economy amid high inflation and a depreciating peso.
Pollinators are indispensable to both ecosystems and economies, yet they face a growing array of threats. Climate change, habitat loss, pesticides, and diseases—including Colony Collapse Disorder—are taking a toll on bee populations worldwide.
The implications extend far beyond the hive, reaching into the heart of global agriculture and trade.
Pollinators are not only the unseen workforce behind the world’s crops—they are sometimes literally commodities in the global economy.
Bees, transported across continents in carefully managed shipments, highlight a fascinating intersection between ecology and commerce, where living creatures become essential cargo sustaining agriculture worldwide.
Pollinators are far more than the gentle agents of flowers—they are vital engines of the global economy.
By transferring pollen from plant to plant, bees, butterflies, and other pollinating species underpin agricultural productivity and international trade, translating their ecological work directly into billions of dollars in economic value.
Exploring Nature and Connections to Global Trade
The Bee Series explores the intersections between nature, ecosystems, and global trade, highlighting their relevance to the 2026 Festival of Inclusive Trade and the global climate and biodiversity agendas. Bees provide a unique lens to examine how ecological systems underpin food security, commerce, and supply chains. Through their journeys and pollination work, we see the deep interconnections between natural systems and trade networks—and why protecting these connections matters to economies, communities, and the planet.
In today’s interconnected world, Governments and industry need innovative platforms that bring together diverse stakeholders—policymakers, business leaders, creative professionals, and community representatives—to collaborate on shared priorities.
The Festival of Inclusive Trade demonstrates the power of such an approach. By creating Showcase Days, the Festival offers a curated, high-impact forum that integrates sector-specific panels, workshops, keynote dialogues, and cultural presentations. These events provide governments with a mechanism to advance policy objectives, while enabling industry and business to contribute practical expertise, drive innovation, and form strategic partnerships.
Supply-chain watchers and global trade enthusiasts — here is your latest snapshot of what’s shaking the world of goods, ports, and pipelines. Over the last four days, we’ve seen movements that could ripple across every port, warehouse, and boardroom from New York to Nairobi. Let’s break it down.
Did you know if you are in the US your favourite Italian pasta could soon cost a lot more in the U.S.? Recent trade decisions are creating ripples all the way from Rome to your pantry.
The Bee Series explores the intersections between nature, ecosystems, and global trade, highlighting their relevance to COP30 and the 2026 Festival of Inclusive Trade. As nations gather at COP30 to advance climate action, biodiversity conservation, and resilient food systems, bees offer a tangible lens to examine how ecological health underpins both environmental and economic sustainability.
This disclaimer (https://shorturl.at/l6Nhzis) a textbook example of an essential tool in your E-Commerce Survival Toolkit for U.S. customers, hitting the perfect balance between legal precision, operational clarity, and customer-friendly communication:
Event: Trade between Chile and Thailand: Opportunities for Growth in ASEAN
Date: Nov 4, 2025
Host: Chile Pacific Foundation
Register: here
Trade isn’t just for the big players. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of global economies—and the key to making trade truly inclusive. Yet, despite decades of globalisation, benefits of international trade often bypass small businesses, women entrepreneurs, Indigenous communities, and other historically underserved groups. It’s like throwing a party and forgetting to invite half the guests. Inclusive trade policy fixes that.
Regional Achievements & Trade Upgrades
· ASEAN leaders reaffirmed commitments to trade integration, digital and green economy growth, and supply-chain resilience under the summit theme “Inclusivity and Sustainability.”
· The bloc welcomed East Timor as its newest member — first expansion since the 1990s.
· ASEAN completed upgrades to major trade agreements:
o ACFTA 3.0 with China (covering digital economy and green industries).
o ATIGA Protocol 2, reinforcing intra-ASEAN trade.
The GTPA is thrilled to announce the return of the Festival of Inclusive Trade for 2026! After a brief pause, the Festival is back reaffirming our commitment to building a more inclusive, sustainable and trusted global trading system. Returning to its online-only format, the 2026 Festival will take place over two impactful weeks in March 2026, welcoming a vibrant mix of voices from across the world.
Global trade has entered a period defined by complexity, volatility, digital acceleration, and rising customer expectations. Supply chain disruptions have surged—skyrocketing nearly 500% during the pandemic era—and even in 2024–2025, businesses continue to face geopolitical tensions, inflationary pressures, stricter compliance rules, growing e-commerce competition, and fragmented supply routes. At the same time, cross-border e-commerce continues to expand, with global online sales projected to surpass US$6 trillion in the mid-2020s.
In our last article, we explored how migrant entrepreneurs power small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), foster innovation, and sustain global trade. Today, we dive into real-life examples that show this impact in action—proof that diversity, resilience, and creativity are the engines of economic growth.