Trade experts gather in Hamburg to debate key European trends

Europe’s trade, export and supply chain finance community convened in Hamburg for Europe Trade Finance Week 2014, which took place at the Radisson Blu Hamburg on June 11-13.

This event, reflecting Hamburg’s role as a trading hub and Germany’s position as Europe’s leading exporter, provided the opportunity for engagement and meaningful discussion between exporters, financiers and policy makers on the leading issues impacting on Europe’s trade market at present, as corporates look to increase their export volumes and fully utilise their supply chains.

Sponsored by leading European institutions such as Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, UniCredit and HSH Nordbank – and enjoying support from the likes of Swift, ICC Banking Commission and the Supply Chain Finance Community – emphasis was placed on the challenges faced by companies, their banks and regulators as they seek to conduct business in an ever-changing economic environment.

Discussions centred on a range of key themes and topics, including macroeconomic and geopolitical risks such as the problems faced in Russia and Ukraine, the changing role of banks in responding to client needs, onboarding suppliers and managing supply chain risk, increasing competition between export credit agencies and the private insurance market, sustainable trade initiatives and the growth of invoice finance alternatives such as crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending. There was also a special closed door regulation roundtable which took place, organised under Chatham House rules.

“With so many new and interesting developments across the market, events like these have never been more important in bringing together key decision makers together to discuss the latest trends and developments,” said Jeff Ando, Associate Director and Head of Conference Production at Global Trade Review. “The need to bring all parties together and to promote dialogue between companies and their suppliers has never been more important, both in terms of onstage discussions and growing networking relationships.

The event provided the opportunity to reflect on the findings of various surveys recently undertaken in the supply chain finance and export finance sectors, by the Supply Chain Finance Community and ICC Banking Commission respectively.

The event concluded with the GTR Supply Chain Masterclass on June 13, an interactive workshop that bridges the physical and financial supply chains, providing detailed insight for participating corporates and banks alike.