Deepesh Patel

Deepesh Patel is Editorial Director at Trade Finance Global (TFG) and host of Trade Finance Talks.

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Women in Trade 2021 – Banks

Neha Noronha, ANZ

The reason I love the field today is because it is probably one of the most tangible parts of institutional banking.

What’s the most important piece of advice you’d give to a woman thinking of starting a career in trade and insurance?

To women starting out their careers in trade finance or looking to move into the area I would advise them not to not be afraid to ask questions and clarify things and to not be daunted by the terminology. Also it is important to remember, whilst it is an area of technical expertise, it is at its core a very intuitive and commercial field. Through trade finance instruments we try to mitigate the risks associated with the import and export of goods. Lastly it is important to put yourself and your aspirations out there, the industry is full of skilled professionals who hold a wealth of knowledge and are happy to share it.

Sally Robinson, ANZ Bank

What’s the most important piece of advice you’d give to a woman thinking of starting a career in trade?

My best piece of advice is don’t be afraid to learn, as you’ll grow.  Trade can be dominated by industry jargon and that does put some people off.  It’s a bit like learning a language. While it’s confronting at first, once you start to unpick and decode that language everything becomes clearer.  Trade is also full of industry experts who like nothing more than to share their expertise, and importantly teach others.  With a growth mindset, what starts as learning becomes knowledge and very quickly expertise. This is definitely the case if you throw yourself into something like product management, where eventually you’ll know every aspect of your product, or most importantly, a way to find the answer. 

Puja Kumar, Bank of America

On International Women’s Day, what is the most important message you want to send out to young women thinking about their careers?

You need a dream, a goal and passion! And go all out in achieving it – visualise that dream every day and you will see yourselves carving a path to achieve it. Women tend to shy away from senior positions because they lack the confidence or believe others may be better than them. So I say, push yourself, believe in the skills and capabilities that you bring to the table. No one can take that away from you.

Valeria Sica, Citi

As you work with different sources to finance your business you will learn the processes and key factors related to each business component. By working with a financial advisor this may streamline the overall process and reduce the effort and time required to have a compelling case and a productive output.

How can we bring more qualified and professional women in to leading trade negotiations?

We should start by nurturing and encouraging young female professionals to develop their careers in this space. The trade business remains an opportunity area for more female leadership. In my twenty-nine years’ career in the trade business I have encountered several brilliant female professionals, but we are always the few within a male dominated environment. I believe that international organizations like the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are critical to drive this agenda to identify and promote senior women into Trade negotiations. Trade is a complex business and women typically tend to have good attention to detail, in my mind it is a perfect match. Having more women playing a key role in trade negotiations will drive a more balanced approach, representing multiple perspectives and leading to improved outcomes.

On International Women’s Day, what is the most important message you want to send out to young women thinking about their careers?

Trust yourself and give it time. Sometimes it is difficult to see the longer term because we learn the possibilities as we move forward. I admire those individuals who know from an early age what their career is going to look like, that wasn’t me. When I am not clear what I want, or what is right for me at a particular moment, I think about what I don’t want and work my way back to what makes sense for me. I always think about the options in front of me, analyse pros and cons and make my decision to move forward. When I look back, I always respect those decisions because I know they were taken with the best information I had at the time.

Keep in mind that there is no right or wrong, you are the only one that knows what is best for you. Most importantly, make sure that you enjoy what you are doing because that is going to bring out the best of you. Careers are for the long run, don’t be impatient, give yourself time to build it right – remember, the stronger the foundation, the higher you can go, don’t rush to failure.

Elif Kuman Saran, Garanti BBVA

What’s the most important piece of advice you’d give to a woman thinking of starting a career in trade?

As a professional, I would say be a continuous learner. It is important for every discipline, but it is especially important for trade and trade-related areas which are evolving very quickly. To keep up the pace we need to update ourselves continuously. Even if it can be hard to see short-term direct benefits do not be demotivated and focus on long-term effects of it.

As a woman and a mother, I would remind that we are experts on multitasking, but we are not superheroes nor have superpowers. Do not be discouraged by one-off instances. It is just ok if you feel that you failed or if you feel that you are far away from your goals, do not give up, take your time, and when you feel ready turn back to play.

Article by Elif, for TFG: Removing Barriers and Empowering Women in Trade

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Neha Saxena, IndusInd Bank

How do we attract more women into careers into an industry that has traditionally been dominated by men?

There is a compelling need to address the wide gender gap and boost the female workforce in the economy. Policymakers need to play an active role in up-skilling and incentivising the participation of woman in the trade finance sector. Furthermore, organisations need to create a strong merit-based culture, where there is no place for gender inequality and zero tolerance to sexual harassment at workplace. Men need to be more accepting of a woman climbing up the corporate ladder. We, as a society, need to create an ecosystem where a woman feels empowered to take up a career of her choice and grow in her professional life, without any guilt.

Article, written by Neha for TFG: Disruption in Global Supply Chain: Can Emerging Economies Play a Bigger Role?

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Poppie Simmonds, Lloyds Banking Group

What’s the most important piece of advice from you’d give to a woman thinking of starting a career in trade?

Trade finance has come a long way, and we are now seeing a shift where more people at the start of their career are getting into the sector and thriving. Three years ago I hadn’t even heard of a Letter of Credit, so I’d say stop worrying about how good someone else is at their job and comparing yourself to them thinking you don’t have enough experience to start a career in Trade. No one is born knowing everything! They too had their own learning journey. If they could get to where they are, there is no reason why you can’t either. Stay focused on your own development and make the most of the resources and mentors out there to help you. 

Read Poppie’s latest contribution for Trade Finance Talks: The “key” to digital trade finance: Public Key Cryptography explained

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Alicia Garcia Herrero, Natixis

Challenges are what make us who we are. At the beginning of my career, most of the challenges were related to my lack of experience and how others perceived me. Overtime becomes his or her own challenge and I would argue this is especially true for women. This is because we need to come to terms with the reality that we need to split our aspirations and energy between two very important but distinct objectives: career and family. Some women even have three as they need – or want – to take care of elderly family members. Such self-imposed challenges are the hardest but, once overcome, also the most rewarding.

Watch our video interview with Alicia: Natixis Chief Economist Insights – How well are Asian markets faring?

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Elitza Kavrakova, Raiffeisen Bank International AG

What matters, is how you deal with those challenges. Of course, I faced challenges, being the first female salesperson in the team (I had meetings where I was asked if I really was the representative of the bank), and in addition, always had to juggle being a manager with being a mother. On the other hand, I am happy that I had and have line managers (male and female) who very much stood behind me and supported my learning and development, as well as having a great team. For me, the female to female support is another essential factor in order to encourage and have more women in leadership positions.

TFG spoke to Elitza Kavrakova, Head of Institutional Clients East, and Martina Zimmerl at Raiffeisen Bank International on trade finance in CEE

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