Over 200 Trade Finance Decision Makers Will Gather At The Gulf Trade Finance Summit To Fuel Innovation And Discuss Future Of Gulf Trade

As per an analysis conducted by the Dubai Chambers in 2019, the UAE economy is projected to grow by 3.8% between 2019 and 2023. The real GDP for the UAE’s non-oil sectors is foreseen to grow by 4.1% in comparison to the 2.8% growth seen previously between 2014-2018. In line with these projections, the 2^nd Annual Gulf Trade Finance will be held on 17^th and 18^th September 2019 at the InterContinental Dubai – Festival City under the theme – Disrupting Trade Finance – Beyond Borders. The exclusive by-invitation event brings together more than 200 leaders and experts from the trade finance sector and several renowned corporates who will share their ideologies, new concepts, and out of the box initiatives through keynote speeches, engaging panel and brainstorming discussions on the future of trade finance in the GCC.

According to reports submitted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the global outlook of the economy is projecting a noticeable growth where the real GDP is foreseen to reach an average of 3.6%. With tightening fiscal policy and higher borrowing costs emerging markets are expected to outperform advanced economies and global averages. Overall, the global trade market is foreseeing a tremendous growth where the sector is predicted to reach $18.7 trillion in the export and import transitions.

On the other hand, the MENA region has the highest share of Dubai’s exports accounting to more than 40% of the economic shares. With respect to these trends, the Gulf Trade Finance Summit aims to fuel innovations and discuss the latest trade finance trends and products that have shown significant development in the region.

Banks in the Middle East are keen on adopting digitization opportunities in order to bridge the trade finance gaps. According to a survey conducted by Asian Development Bank, 44% of the respondents in the region believe to adopt digital and online trade platform as a primitive strategy in the next one to three years. Commenting on the introduction of digitization in trade finance, Sumit Aggarwal, Group Head of Transaction Banking services, Emirates NBD says “Digitization is key to improving client interaction and solutioning. At Emirates NBD, we have witnessed tremendous response for our online trade finance portal – smartTRADE from our clients. As we continue to invest in banking innovation to better serve our corporate clients, we are looking to closely follow global trends in automated client journeys such as robotics, OCR, Artificial intelligence and Blockchain.

A report submitted by the Department of Economic Development reveals that SMEs contribute to more than 45% of Dubai’s economic GDP with a total workforce of 52%. With SMEs comprising a major section of the city’s financial activity, the conference will discuss the magnifying growth of SMEs and the various hindrances related to the lack of accessibility and international trade problems. The panel discussion will further address the crucial reasoning behind the constant rejections faced by SMEs with respect to the trade finance requests. Speaking on this subject, Matt Goddard, Senior Director, ExWorks Capital says “Currently, we are experiencing a continuation of bank liquidity tightening for SMEs across the region where foreign funders are co-existing with local funders in order to provide additional liquidity. The conference gives corporates an ideal platform to interact and present opinions among high profile audience of CFOs and Treasurers in the trade finance provision.”

The overall event focuses on providing deeper insights in the industry while comparing and discussing the latest trade finance products and key analysis among top financial institutions in the GCC region. Speaking on the growing trade finance industry Sidh N.C, Director, QNA International claims “The trade finance sector is identified as most imperative for economic development. It is also been perceived that there has been more demand than supply of trade finance that requires further clarity that is discussed through industry platforms like the Gulf Trade Finance Summit. The summit aims to cover various topics of discussions with relevance to the current economic times and with association with corporates who are showcasing constant developments in the industry, fuel innovations and discuss the future of Gulf Trade.”