Trends Transforming Trade

Trade has an essential role to play in creating a more resilient system – one that can resist or adapt to environmental and economic shocks. It can do so by facilitating the exchange of goods, services and technology—including environmentally sound technologies—required for adaptation, mitigation and disaster preparedness and response. In this way trade contributes to the achievement of the Paris Agreement, SDGs and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Developing countries face the challenge of “double exposure” to both economic shocks and environmental challenges such as climate change and natural hazards, which are becoming more frequent and severe. Investments in low emission, climate resilient agriculture, renewable energy generation, and climate smart infrastructure, for example, could help reduce vulnerability to extreme weather events and build economic resilience.

The Global Trade Professionals Alliance is developing an Inclusive Trade White Paper that will produce practical recommendations on how capacity building and standard setting can facilitate a more inclusive international trading ecosystem.

As part of the 2019 WTO Aid for Trade Global Review in Geneva from the 3-5 July the GTPA and the EIF are delighted to host a session on building gender based policy to drive and facilitate global trade in LDCs.

SMEs are the backbone of most economies and women business owners are also crucial to economic growth. According to research by consultancy, McKinsey, advancing women’s equality could add $28 trillion to global GDP by 2025 – equivalent to adding a new United States and China.

We are in a trade war and it is here to stay

Opinion by: Niels Strazdins, Head of Global Trade Policy - Global Trade Professionals Alliance

The United States is the top destination market for Chinese merchandise exports. Soon virtually all Chinese goods imported into the US will be subject to tariffs, with profound knock-on effects for both businesses and consumers.

Escalating trade friction between the US and China is impacting farmers, consumers and businesses large and small. Billions of dollars of Chinese goods now face 25 per cent tariffs when entering the United States.

Opinion by: Niels Strazdins, Head of Global Trade Policy - Global Trade Professionals Alliance

Australia delivered a fresh mandate to incumbent Prime Minster Scott Morrison in the country’s recent federal election. Turned off by the opposition’s high-tax high-spend agenda, voters elected for the Prime Minister’s more practical approach to economic management.

Moderate economic reform should be enough to keep Australia’s economy humming along, though from a trade point of view it is an economy that is still heavily reliant on the export of a few commodities to a few markets.

Sabrina Varma has over twenty years of experience working in international trade and development, with a view to maximising trade as a tool to support inclusive and sustainable development.

Based on her work experience at national, regional, global levels, across government, private sector and NGOs, and from developed country and developing country perspectives, her approach is based on bringing together shared priorities, requirements and solutions to support trade capacity building in developing countries.

GTDW China is the 18th International Edition of The Global Trade Development Week programmes. Join over 500 International, Regional & Domestic trade leaders, 80 Speakers and leading exhibitors across our summit programmes, workshops, exhibition, G2G, G2B & B2B networking and site visits to leading trade locations in Shanghai. The theme of GTDW for 2019 in China is around The Future of Global Trade combining an exhibition of leading trade technologies enabling efficient and secure trade facilitation between countries and regions. GTDW China is partnered with Shanghai Asia-Pacific Model E-Port Network Operational Center (SAOC) which was set up in Shanghai in 2016, with the view of promoting trade facilitation and supply chain connectivity. SAOC and GTDW have shared focus on the enhancement of capacity building and public-private partnership to improve the connectivity of the international supply chain and the facilitation of cross-border trade.

The GTPA is pleased to welcome Daniel Spencer as the latest Global Trade Professional, certified under ISO/IEC 17024 as a Trade Management specialist. As a certified Global Trade Professional, Daniel is one of the very first to be part of a global ecosystem of trade professionals.

Coriolis Technologies, the world’s leading source of data and analytics as a service for trade professionals, has today announced a partnership with the Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA), to develop the world’s first digital trade database.

The database will provide more timely and relevant information on global trade flows, allowing users to better understand how global trade is changing as digital technologies and services become more important aspects of supply chains.

The database will be used by banks, governments and the investment community, allowing them to make robust and more informed business decisions with unparalleled insight into the global flows of goods, services and strategic trade.

The GTPA would like to congratulate ITAC member Sir Al-Nashir Jamal who has recently been appointed to the join the Canadian Enterprise as Member of Advisory Board.

Jamal joins Chair David de Launay and founding member Lloyd Girman on the Enterprise Advisory Board, with a focus on infrastructure, resource development and other community-led and owned projects.

The GTPA would like to congratulate Trade Finance and Supply Chain finance working committee members Alisa DiCaprio, Head, Trade and Supply Chain, R3, New York, NY and Craig Weeks, Independent Consultant, Weaverville, NC. Alisa and Craig were recently appointed to the Trade Finance Advisory Council (TFAC) in the United States.

The GTPA would like to welcome two new members to the ITAC committee, Mona Shrestha Adhikari and Jim Redden.

The GTPA is delighted to welcome a new member to our team. Niels Strazdins is Head of Global Trade Policy and Europe Director at the GTPA, leading our policy and research as well as European stakeholder engagement. He sits on several international committees, including the GTPA’s International and Technical Advisory Committee as well as committees convened by the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business and the International Organization for Standardization.

Earlier this year GTPA spent two weeks in Southern Africa, visiting South Africa and Botswana, and participating in eCommerce Africa.

Our Africa/Asia Director, Collins Rex, met with the University of Cape Town and the University of the Witwatersrand on the SSC, as well as the potential to collaborate on training programmes, particularly for African women entrepreneurs and MSME eCommerce entrepreneurs.

Last year the GTPA commenced an Australian aid initiative implemented on behalf of the Australian Government to establish support services for small businesses in developing countries. This initiative aligns perfectly with our commitment to trade-based international development and economic inclusion.

Over the course of this three-year project, the GTPA will help improve the services provided by industry bodies and Chambers of Commerce to small businesses in developing countries, to assist them with their international trade activities. We will also be looking to enhance the ecosystems in which small businesses operate and strengthening their capacity to advocate domestically for trade reform.

Earlier this month, the GTPA, represented by Lisa McAuley (CEO), Collins Rex (Asia and Africa Director) and Niels Strazdins (Europe Director), participated in the UNCTAD (the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) eCommerce Week, the leading forum for Ministers, senior government officials, CEOs and other business representatives, international organizations, development banks, academics and civil society to discuss the development opportunities and challenges associated with the evolving digital economy. This year’s theme was “From Digitalization to Development”.

Having participated in previous eCommerce weeks and having presented a session at eCommerce Week Africa in November 2018, the GTPA was delighted to have the opportunity to once again present a session at eCommerce Week 2019. This session, entitled, “Making the most of the value producing opportunities inherent in becoming a digital business”, was presented in partnership with Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF).

Ms. Emmanuelle Ganne is Senior Analyst at the World Trade Organization (WTO) where she leads WTO work on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and blockchain. She is the author of a recently published book entitled "Can Blockchain Revolutionize International Trade?" and is a regular speaker at blockchain events. From 2015 to 2017, she held the position of Vice-President for Europe at the Allam Advisory Group (AAG), a team of former C-level executives and senior diplomats that specializes in helping businesses expand their operations globally. Before joining AAG, Ms. Ganne held various positions at the WTO, as Counselor to Director-General Pascal Lamy, in the Information and External Relations Division, and in the Accessions Division. Before joining the WTO in 2002, Ms. Ganne worked for the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, putting in place the Stability Pact Anti-Corruption Initiative, which assisted South Eastern European states curb corruption. Ms. Ganne is a 2009 Yale World Fellow.

The GTPA and EIF are pleased to invite you to join us for an upcoming session as part of eCommerce Week in Geneva.

Digital transformation is about how a business embraces digital tools to streamline and improve its functionality, and how that business then more efficiently, potently and profitably interacts with its customers.

15 April– 2 June 2019

In an effort to enhance knowledge about the links between trade and gender, the UNCTAD Trade, Gender and Development Programme has developed an Online Course on Trade and Gender.

The course targets academics (from universities and research centres), policymakers and representatives of civil society in developing and transition countries involved in research, teaching, policy formulation and implementation, advocacy or field work in the area of trade and gender.

Shared Services Centres (SSC) is the entity responsible for the execution and the handling of specific operational tasks in an organization, such as accounting, HR, payroll, IT, legal, compliance, purchasing, security, and more. The SSC is often a spin-off of the corporate services to separate all operational types of tasks from the corporate headquarters. As SSCs are often cost centres, they are quite cost-sensitive also in terms of their headcount, labour costs and location criteria.

With a network of 24 bilateral and regional FTAs/Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with 36 trading partners, companies that operate in Singapore are strategically positioned to benefit from easier entry and greater access to global markets for their products and services. More importantly, companies can ride on these FTAs/EPAs to trade with and invest in other countries predictably. This is essential in today’s unpredictable environment of increasing trade tensions.

Event Details
Date : 2-3 April 2019 Time: 08.30am — 05.30pm
Venue : SBF Center Seminar Rooms (Level 6)
Dress Code: Smart Casual
Fee per pax Member: $120 (inclusive of 7% GST) / Non-Member: $250 (inclusive of GST)

Over the past few weeks I’ve undertaken a whistle-stop tour of Asia-Pacific, working on the GTPA’s three-year Australian Aid-funded programme to establish support services for small businesses in developing countries. I have visited Samoa, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh (the countries where the programme will be implemented).

While undertaking a range of meetings with both the public and private sectors, I was also fortunate to catch up with some of the women who were part of the Australia Awards: Women Trading Globally programme. Our CEO, Lisa McAuley, and I initiated this programme back in 2017, and I had the rare privilege of training and guiding the women through three separate courses in 2017 and 2018.

In advance of International Women’s Day the GTPA launched a campaign to shine a light on the women who rock international trade and over the last couple of weeks I have been privileged to receive the profiles of some truly incredible women working in trade. It was amazing to see the diversity of the different roles women play in international trade.

I have long commented on how SMEs are the backbone of most economies and women business owners are also crucial to economic growth. According to research by consultancy, McKinsey, advancing women’s equality could add $28 trillion to global GDP by 2025 – equivalent to adding a new United States and China.

As I am currently in Santiago, Chile to attend APEC related meetings on empowering Women in Trade, I congratulate the Chilean government for prioritising this issue as part of APEC 2019 and I was privileged to attend a fantastic Capacity Building Workshop on Women and Trade coordinated by Canada, Chile and New Zealand, which discussed some of the policy priorities in this area.

Ms. Anoush der Boghossian was appointed the WTO's first focal point on trade and gender by Director-General Roberto Azevêdo in 2017. Anoush works as part of the Aid for Trade Unit of the WTO's Development Division and is a senior member of the team.

Prior to joining the Development Division in 2016, Ms. der Boghossian worked in the Information and External Relations Division (IERD) of the WTO. She worked as the French Language Spokesperson of the WTO and she was appointed as the press officer to the former Director-General Pascal Lamy. She also served the WTO as the WTO NGO Liaison Officer and Social Media Manager. Anoush managed the WTO Public Forum and the Organization's social media operations between 2013-16.

Anoush began her career at the WTO in 2006 after acquiring 10 years of professional experience in the private sector, in Brussels, working on EU policies, as a public relations specialist.

Among her educational achievements, she holds a Masters in European and International Law and a Masters in communications.

Mrs. Damchae Dem ventured into the world of business in the early sixties making homemade potato chips, which she sold in her neighborhood. Later in the nineties, she founded her company Pelden Enterprise Limited in 2006 and became a pioneer in steel manufacturing in the country.

She also pioneered Bhutan Business Solution (BBS) in Bhutan, a unique project where more than 100 youth were trained and employed under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of Pelden Enterprise Limited. The project beneficiaries are currently self-employed and successfully managing the company.

Specific training and education for women business owners can increase the ability of individuals and businesses to respond to changing global market conditions and to remain competitive.

GTPA is on a mission to collaborate with existing organisations globally to support and advance the engagement of women entrepreneurs in global trade.

GTPA is delighted that today we welcome the following companies as new Foundational members to the GTPA ecosystem.

GTPA will now provide each of these new members with a pathway to certification as a Global Trade Professional (GTP), as well as giving them access to a network into the GTPA ecosystem for ongoing trade support, mentoring, and resources and tools through our alliance partners.

In advance of International Women’s Day on the 8th March, the GTPA is pleased to promote our campaign to shine a light on the women who rock international trade. Today we will support four ladies from the UK Trade Policy Observatory.

Mrs. Nasreen Fatema Awal is the Vice Chairperson of Multimode Group and she is a noted businesswoman, entrepreneur and philanthropist from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her business interests include agriculture, insurance, banks, hospitality, telecommunications, IT, plastic manufacturing, recycling and consumer goods distribution.

Jenny recently joined Hort Innovation as the Trade Manager and works across a range of export-focused industries, including fruits, vegetables and nuts. Jenny also plays an active role in the development of concepts for the Asian Markets Fund in Hort Frontiers. Prior to this, Jenny was a Senior Trade Advisor at the Australian Trade & Investment Commission (Austrade) and was based in Cairns, Perth and Canberra throughout her time in this role.

Lynn Rua is a skilled operational and commercial professional, currently working with a leading trade, logistics and distribution organisation. With 16 years’ experience developing constructive and cost-effective logistics solutions to meet the challenges and obstacles across global import and export activities.

Lynn develops and presents workshops to teach best practice’ processes to maximise efficiency, quality, cost effectiveness and customer service throughout the supply chain. With her Diploma in English-Spanish Interpreting, she has a special interest in building relations and facilitating trade between Australia and Latin America.