As we have seen over the past few years, progress is not linear. In almost every aspect of life, two steps forward are often accompanied by one step back.

While at the ITFA and BCR: Trade & Investment Forum 2023, Trade Finance Global’s Deepesh Patel was happy to sit down and talk to Lord Holmes of Richmond MBE to discuss what the UK government is doing to support this digital transition.

This past week, Trade Finance Global (TFG) stopped by the inaugural ITFA and BCR: Trade & Investment Forum 2023 to learn more about making trade an investible asset class.

After COVID-19, the commodity trade finance industry experienced a period of great recovery. Trade finance covers a broad range of financing arrangements for the production, exporting and selling of commodities. 

In the largest banking collapse since the 2008 financial crisis, US regulators were forced on Friday to take over control of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) – a prominent lender to tech start-ups, providing financing for almost half of US venture-backed technology and healthcare companies.

To kick off Trade Finance Global’s Women in Trade, Treasury & Payments roundtable event and dinner, President and Chair of US EXIM Bank, Reta Jo Lewis gave a keynote address to the audience. 

Lynette Thorstensen, Chair of the Board, Fairtrade International, delivered a keynote speech to the dinner attendees, highlighting gender equity success stories while pointing out the need for further growth.

Women’s progress in the workplace, family life, and the world in general only marches on when we all actively participate. 

The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2022 reveals that despite progress made towards gender equality in education and health, the gender gap in economic participation and opportunity remains essentially unchanged.

From a lack of representation in decision-making processes to unconscious biases and disproportionate family responsibilities, women encounter numerous obstacles that can impede their career growth and success.