TFG highlights the need for more innovation in trade finance, at the 2016 TFG Product Awards

By James Sinclair

James Sinclair is the Marketing Manager at Trade Finance Global.

Last updated on 27 Feb 2023

26 Jul 2016 3 min reading time

Key Themes:

The winners of the 2016 TFG Product Awards were announced this week (on Tuesday 26th July). The awards recognised and highlighted innovation in technology and new products which help improve the trade finance industry.

TFG calls for the need to innovate, disrupt and change the trade, commodity and structured finance sector to stimulate competition, growth and efficiency for businesses accessing trade finance.

The TFG Product Awards recognised exceptional candidates materially investing in, and leading the way in terms of technology platforms, great products and streamlining trade, thus helping SMEs to trade and export internationally, a market worth $3tn USD per year.

Each category was judged by a panel of professional judges and 2016 was the biggest awards to date, choosing from over 50 companies across 7 sectors.

James Sinclair, Trade Finance Global editor said:

“Deploying technology and creating great products is what these awards were about. We were proud to nominate winners across our categories this year. It’s been a pleasure for the judging panel reading independent reviews, talking to experts in the sector, and reviewing websites,” James said.

“It’s good to see that digital is driving innovation and competition, which is why we have awarded companies who are striving for digital excellence. Trade finance is a growing industry and we really support businesses driving this essential innovation.”

Winner for the Best Supply Chain Product was Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE Global Trade. Taneli Ruda, Managing Director for Global Trade Management at Thomson Reuters said:

“We are honored to have been recognized for our innovation and commitment to bring the most complete trade management solution to our customers. We are proud to deliver a truly global solution that supports confidence, efficiency and adds visibility across the entire global trade and supply chain management process.”

Asian Development Bank were awarded Best Data and Research Project. Head of Trade Finance at ADB, Steven Beck, said:

“Understanding what market gaps exist and what their impact on growth and jobs is, and monitoring these trends, is critical to understanding what the public and private sector need to do to narrow gaps that impede growth and job creation”.

He continued by saying, “It’s been a good start and even though we see improvement year on year, we need to make the gap study more robust. We’re in the process of partnering with other institutions, like the WTO, who have complementary expertise that will help us make the product even more useful.”

The winners of the prestigious TFG Product Awards for Excellence were greatly received and well deserved. Jacco de Jong, Managing Director at essDOCS Consulting, and the Best Innovation in Trade winner, said:

“It’s an honour to have been selected in recognition of our products contribution to innovating trade at the TFG Product Awards. As one of the last bastions of digitization, trade continues to pose many challenges but also some very exciting opportunities for banks and corporates.”