Your Monday morning coffee briefing from TFG.
UK and Indonesia strengthen trade ties launching the Joint Economic and Trade Committee. Global trade could grow 8% as COVID fightback begins and WTO details impact of regulatory barriers, other factors on costs to trade
UK and Indonesia strengthen trade ties launching the Joint Economic and Trade Committee
The UK and Indonesia have concluded the first round of exploratory trade talks and committed to further strengthening our £3 billion trade and investment links through a new joint trade dialogue. The new Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) will help promote and develop trade, investment, and economic cooperation ties. Read more →
Moving to the cloud: Volkswagen’s TRATON migrates trade finance to improve efficiencies
Surecomp announced that automotive multinational TRATON SE has gone live with its trade finance processing solution COR-TF in the cloud. The move came as part of a corporate-wide initiative to shift many of the firm’s on-premise installed solutions to its cloud environment in order to improve agility and reduce total cost of ownership. Read more →
New WTO database details impact of regulatory barriers, other factors on costs to trade
Trade policy barriers such as tariffs and regulations account for at least 14% of trade costs according to estimates from the WTO Trade Cost Index. The index measures the cost of trading internationally relative to trading domestically, finding that the costs to export are higher for women, smaller businesses and unskilled workers. Read more →
UK fishing industry furious over failure to strike Norway deal
The UK fishing industry reacted angrily on Friday after the government failed to reach an annual reciprocal access agreement with Norway, in what it described as another post-Brexit blow to British fleets. Norway’s subarctic waters are a key source of cod, a fish favoured by UK consumers. Read more →
Global trade could grow 8% as COVID fightback begins
In its trade statistics and trade forecast 2021, the WTO estimates world trade in merchandise, or goods, will grow 8% in volume in 2021, after falling 5.3% in 2020. Production and distribution of vaccines will be key to how the world’s economy performs. Global trade is ready for a strong but uneven recovery after the shock of the pandemic. Read more →
New electronic Bill of Lading introduced by MSC using WAVE BL’S platform
MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, a global leader in container shipping and logistics, is officially introducing the electronic bill of lading (eBL) for its customers around the world, following a successful pilot phase, using a solution on an independent blockchain platform WAVE BL.Read more →
AI to help automate Bank of Africa’s documentary checking, thanks to Conpend and Finastra
Finastra announced Bank Of Africa, a pan-African financial group, has selected Conpend’s TRADE AI app from its open innovation platform, FusionFabric.cloud. The app extends the functionality of Finastra’s Fusion Trade Innovation technology and enables users to reduce document and compliance checking time. Read more →
