Posts Tagged ‘WTO’

MSMEs around the globe struggle to obtain financing. Why do these MSME financing constraints exist and is a digital future providing new hope for all those firms that are struggling to stay afloat?

Your Monday morning coffee briefing from TFG. A container ship ran aground, blocking the Suez Canal which carries about 12% of global maritime trade. The blockage may take some time to clear, further disrupting global shipping, already beset by high freight costs and delays caused by the pandemic.

Your Monday morning coffee briefing from TFG. The OECD upgraded its forecasts for global growth this year, mainly due to the sizeable $1.9t stimulus in the US. UK exports to the EU fell by a record 40.7% in January following the end of the post-Brexit transition period.

Your Monday morning coffee briefing from TFG. The OECD upgraded its forecasts for global growth this year, mainly due to the sizeable $1.9t stimulus in the US. UK exports to the EU fell by a record 40.7% in January following the end of the post-Brexit transition period.

In contrast to the stance taken under the Trump administration, the US trade representative’s office has expressed support for Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Your Monday morning coffee briefing from TFG. Concern continued to grow over new variants of COVID-19. The UK has closed all travel corridors as of this morning. The UK economy shrank by 2.6% in November as lockdowns hit activity in the service sectors.

Almost four years later, Brexit is complete. What does the new UK and the EU agreement now mean for trade, and what’s left to do?

A commentary and foreword by ICC’s Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO and WTO’s Deputy Director-General Xiaozhun Yi, following the launch of WTO and TFG’s 2020 Blockchain for Trade publication.

A recent 2020 study and supplementary Covid-19 survey by TFG and WTO reveals the biggest challenges facing DLT trade-related firms when it comes to implementation of their solutions within corporates and banks.

Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), colloquially termed ‘blockchain’ has been touted to disrupt trade and supply chain, as well it’s financing, for over 5 years. Following on from TFG, WTO and ICC’s ‘Periodic Table’ enlisting 39 projects in global trade utilising DLT, we’ve relaunched our table, indicating that the industry has considerably matured and evolved in less than 12 months.

Your Monday morning coffee briefing from TFG. The pandemic has created a vast natural experiment in home working.

Your Monday morning coffee briefing from TFG. Governments across Europe face a hard balance between public health and economic activity as they combat a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. Global trade is recovering more quickly than after the 2008 global financial crisis.

The transmission of COVID-19 has returned to “alarming rates” across Europe, says the World Health Organization. The UK government imposed more restrictions on areas of the North East and the Midlands to combat a rise in the number of cases.

The pandemic has been vastly disruptive. It has prompted powerful responses from the government and the private sector. The number of new cases globally appears to have stabilised. Lockdown measures early in the quarter weighed heavily on UK growth but the recovery picked up some pace in June, with GDP rising 8.7% from May.

In the UK Boris Johnson announced a further loosening of lockdown restrictions, reopening most remaining leisure facilities and dropping advice that public transport should be used for essential journeys only.