ICC workshop on international trade finance kicks off on Friday
Wednesday, 11 February 2015 00:34
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Sri Lanka, along with the ICC Bangladesh, will host a two-day ICC workshop on international trade finance at the Galadari Hotel for bankers of both countries.
The event will start on 13 February (Friday) and Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen will be the Chief Guest for the inauguration.
In the context of the ongoing global financial and economic crisis, banks and businesses need to take stringent measures to ensure that their sales transactions are watertight. Trade finance is critical for supporting global trade flows, which totalled around $ 18 trillion in 2011, according to the ICC Global Trade Finance Survey. It encompasses a wide range of products and services that help understand the real risks within international trade and reduce risks of cross-border transactions.
According to the survey, the use of collections is low in Asia-Pacific compared with the use of L/Cs, whereas in North America and in the Eurozone the use of collections is much higher than L/C’s. Asia-Pacific continues to register by far the most import MT 700 messages, accounting for 66% of world traffic in 2012, followed by Europe-Eurozone at 9% and the Middle East at 7%.
The workshop has been designed for participants to understand the international trade finance scenario as well as ICC rules and tools based on real-life cases and guide them to undertake secure and successful international trade and finance as well as to avoid risks in cross-border transactions. It will also help in understanding the new provisions and how the changes impact users with the confidence and legal certainty to trade in unfamiliar markets and save both time and money. The workshop will be case study-driven to achieve maximum practical benefit in everyday Documentary Credit Operations and Risk Management.
There will be a large number of participants from Bangladesh. The workshop will be of significant benefit to trade finance officials of Bangladesh banks, bankers, exporters, importers, investment project managers, corporate lawyers, SME entrepreneurs, freight forwarders and other international trade professionals to understand and take measures against the risks involved and how to resolve issues.
Bangladeshi participants will have the benefit of interacting with their counterparts in Malaysia and Sri Lanka, share their experiences of trade finance related issues and recourse taken thereon. The Certified Documentary Credit Specials (CDCS), who participate in this program, will have the advantage of earning some marks for their Professional Development Unit (PDUs) for re-certification.
The program will be conducted by a world-renowned presenter, highly experienced practitioner of international trade finance and a longstanding member of the ICC Banking Commission, Vincent O’Brien. He has more than 20 years international trade banking experience and has delivered trade finance technical assistance and training sessions in more than 50 countries.
Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, P. Samarasiri and Bangladesh Bank Executive Director Md. Ahsan Ullah, who is responsible for the foreign exchange policy, foreign exchange investment and foreign exchange operation and is also Project Director of the Central Bank, will be the resource persons for the workshop.
