International trade between professionals is built on a complex documentary chain, yet it is far less digitalised than e-commerce. The latter enables consumers to order or exchange goods and services, cancel orders, have items delivered and pay without a single paper-based document. Less than 0.1% of the four billion new documents produced each year in… Read more
Using electronic documents and transactions can speed up and increase trade. Electronic messages can eliminate the need to enter data into a computer manually at each supply chain checkpoint and can provide opportunities for the potential reuse of data. There are various ways to digitize trade documents and transactions. One way is simply to take… Read more
We, the Ministers/the Head of delegations of SPECA participating States – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, gathered in Geneva on April 17 of 2023 on the margins of the 70th Session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) for a high-level dialogue with heads of the United Nations regional commissions, Permanent… Read more
Digital trade, or the application of digital technologies to trade and supply chain processes, is an opportunity to drive efficiency, speed, and resilience for companies, industries and countries that rely on trade for growth. The pace of technological advancement, and the falling cost of computing power and storage, now make the benefits of digitally-enabled trade… Read more
The international supply chain is growing in complexity at the same time as nation states seek to improve their border compliance for imports and facilitate access to export markets for their domestic producers. The global value chain is highly dependent on smooth cross-border supply flows (tangible, intangible and data). In an uncertain world that is… Read more
The FIT Alliance was formed in February 2022 with five founding members: BIMCO, DCSA, FIATA, ICC and SWIFT. The key objectives of the FIT Alliance are to raise awareness and accelerate adoption of a standards-based electronic bill of lading (eBL)across all sectors of the shipping industry: a universal eBL. A universal eBL would benefit all… Read more
In the era of digital transformation, supplier management and procurement came late. But over the past two years, companies have learned how vulnerable global supply chains are to disruption, making the digitisation of supplier management and procurement processes more important again. While cost reduction remains a priority, procurement needs to be more flexible and its… Read more
Under the 2021 Italian Presidency, the G20 recognised digital identity as a priority for achieving social and economic inclusion, forming part of its broader commitments to advancing digital government through the work of the G20 Digital Economy Task Force (DETF). As enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all individuals have the right to… Read more
Distributed ledger technology (DLT)1 in trade is usually used for two primary purposes: 1) track-and-trace, to enhance transparency on how goods are being processed and 2) the digitalization of trade processes. Track-and-trace itself has three main purposes. First, it can be used to increase transparency for customers and build trust. This is done by providing… Read more
The study confirms the strong potential of blockchain technology in the domain of international trade document exchange. However, changing international trade processes in this way would require adaptations of the legislative framework and policy-driven initiatives. The study’s analysis of the legislative framework and current policies in both international trade and blockchain technologies emphasised the challenges… Read more