Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore September 3-4, 2019#GTRASIA www.gtreview.com

As the world’s leading trade, commodity and export finance publisher and event organiser, GTR offers sponsors and advertisers unrivalled exposure and profiling among their peer and client groups. GTR can offer various appealing options that would strategically and effectively help raise the profile of the partner, and offer a highly effective platform with which to showcase its capabilities and mission.

2 | www.gtreview.com

Sponsorship opportunitiesEd Virtue Director, Global Sales evirtue@gtreview.com +44 (0)20 8772 3008

Speaking opportunitiesJeff Ando Director, Conference Production jando@gtreview.com +44 (0)20 8772 3015

Marketing & media opportunitiesElisabeth Spry Marketing Manager espry@gtreview.com +44 (0)20 8772 3006

GTR Asia 2019 returned to Singapore on September 3-4, 2019. Recognised as the world’s largest international gathering for the trade, commodity, fintech and treasury community, GTR’s annual event in Singapore welcomed a record-breaking number of almost 1,300 industry participants from local and international banks to multinational corporations and SMEs, independent financiers, commodity brokers and traders, insurers and risk managers, lawyers, consultants, ECAs and multilaterals and more!

Participants had the chance to hear over 100 of the world’s leading trade, treasury and fintech experts reflecting on developments in the Asian market and more globally, whilst also having the chance to network and discuss trade priorities with over 500 different companies. Delegates also benefited from the use of multiple streams with coverage at the event focused on a range of topics and markets. A variety of formats (breakouts, workshops, debates, formal launches, speed-networking) provided excellent opportunities for engagement and knowledge sharing.

“GTR provides great sharing on latest trade solutions and networking amongst industry players.”

S M Jameel, Petronas

“It’s good to have the opportunity to speak with people I am transacting with.”

C R Ocampo, Shell

Once registered, log-in to GTR

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Official conference hashtag: #GTRASIA

1,123

2018

The wOrld’s largesT inTernaTiOnal gaThering

fOr The Trade, cOmmOdiTy, finTech and

Treasury cOmmuniTy... and grOwing every year!

OVERVIEW

Sectors attended in 2019

8%EUROPEFrance Germany Luxembourg Netherlands Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey United Kingdom

89%ASIAAustralia, China Hong Kong, India Indonesia, Japan Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Malaysia Philippines Singapore South Korea Sri Lanka Taiwan,Tajikistan Thailand, Vietnam

1%MENAPakistan UAE

2019’s vital statistics

1,267Delegates

511Companies

103Speakers

1%AMERICASUnited States

1%AFRICANigeria South Africa

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52% 11% 10% 6% 6% 4% 3% 3% 2% 3%

Percentage of attendees by region in 2019

Attendee breakdown by job title in 2019

63%

Senior level

10%

Mid-level

27%

C-level

Company size breakdown in 2019

71%

Multinational

15%

Mid

14%

SME

STATISTICS

PLATINUM SPONSORS HOST BANK

GOLD SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

MORNING REGISTRATION SPONSOR LANYARD SPONSOR DELEGATE BAG SPONSOR HOST PARTNER EVENING RECEPTION PARTNER

CO-SPONSORS

Raindew Commodities.

WATER BOTTLE SPONSORLUNCH SPONSOR DAY 1 EXPERT TREASURY PARTNER

4 | www.gtreview.com

SPONSORS & PARTNERS

2019’s conference was supported by

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Corporates & traders

Aastar Trading

ABB Group

Adani Enterprises

Adriot

Agarwal Coal

Agritrade International

Agrocorp International

Airwallex

Alpha Nations

Alzys Global

Ameropa

Anglo American

Apollo Tyres

ArcelorMittal

Archer Daniels Midland

Archipelago Middle East Shipping

Argonaut Resources

Aries Fertilizers Group

ASM Tech

Assar International

AT&S

Atlantic Energy

Atlantic Industrial & Trading

Avani Resources

Avatar Commodities

Awin Resource International

Bangchak Corporation

Barry Callebaut Asia Pacific

BCP Trading

BHP Billiton

Bombardier

BP Oil International

Bunge

BW LPG

C. Steinweg Group

Canwell Commerce

Capstone International HK

Cargill

Caterpillar

ChemChina

Chevron Corporation

China Coal Solutions

CHS Europe

CJ CheilJedang

CM Services

CMA CGM

Coeclerici

Cofco International

Connell Brothers

Continental Corporation

Corporate Fair Trade Community

CRRC Qingdao Sifang

Decathlon

Dell

Deshbandhu Group

Dover Corporation

Dow Chemical Company

Dyson

ECOM Agroindustrial

Enerfo

Engeco

Enigio

ENOC

Equentia Natural Resources

Eu Yan Sang International

Evonik Industries

Exxposures

First Resources

FKS Food & Agri

FMC Agro

Freepoint Commodities

Fusion International

Future Electronics

GA Circular

Gail Global

Gamacorp

Gazprom

Ge Trade

GEA Process Engineering Asia

General Mills

GlaxoSmithKline

Glencore International

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals

Glenoble Commodities

Global Asia

Global Satellite Solutions

Global Trade Well

GlobalConnect

Globe International

GM Marketing Solutions

GMR Group

Golden Agri

Gozem

GSSG Holdings

Gulf Petrochem

Gunvor Group

Halcyon Agri

Hankook Tire

Hartee Partners

Hengli Petrochemical International

Hengyi Industries International

Hewlett Packard Asia Pacific

Hilti Far East

Hin Leong Trading

Hitachi

Huawei Technologies

Hyde Energy

Hydro Aluminium

Hydrogen Energy

Hyundai Corporation

IBF Trading

Iconsilium

Idemitsu International

Indian Oil Corporation

Indika Energy

Indorama Polychem

Integra

Invista

Isuzu Motors Asia

Itochu Corporation

IXM

Jaypee Group

JERA Trading Singapore

Josovina Commodities

JSL Manufacturing

JSW International Trade Corporation

Junda

Just Oils & Grains

Kairos Oil Trading

Kempar Energy

Keppel Corporation

Knowledge International Strategy Systems

Kobian

KrisShop

Kulicke and Soffa

Lamar Commodity Trading

Lee Fung International

Lenovo

LG Electronics

Liberty Commodities

Liberty Fe Trade

Lidl Hong Kong

Lidl Singapore

Lobb Heng

Lok Chemicals

Louis Dreyfus Company

Mabanaft

Mac World Industries

Marzuk Agri

Melenco Hong Kong

Mercuria

Mesco Steel

Mewah Oils & Fats

Microsoft Corporation

Mitsubishi Corporation RtM

Mitsui & Co

Monk’s Hill

Mount Vernon Sanctuary

MRI Trading

Musim Mas Group

N H Jhala

National Oilwell Varco (NOV)

Nestlé

New Hope Group

Noble Group

Nokia

Novatek

Ocean Network Express

Olam International

Omni United

Oneconnect

ONGC

Oriental Energy

Oxyde Chemicals Singapore

Pacific International Lines

Panama Renewable Energy

Peter Cremer

PetroEast

Petrolimex

Petron Trading

Petronas

Pfizer Inc

Phillip Commodities

Phillips 66

Phoenix Global

Phoon Huat

Pine Energy

PNX Petroleum Singapore

Posco International

Prax

PTT

PTT International Trading

Quadra Commodities

R1 International

Raffemet

Rail Holdings

RCMA Group

Reliance Industries

Repsol

RGE Group

Rhodium Capital

Rhodium Resources

Rio Tinto

RK Galaxy

Robert Bosch

Roda Enigma

Rohde & Schwarz

RWE Group

Sabic Asia Pacific

Safmarine

Samsung Corporation

SAP

Sealoud Asia

Sembcorp Industries

SEPCO 3

Shell

Shell & Turcas Petrol

Sims Global Commodities

Singapore Cogeneration Steel

Singapore Zhimei

Singer Sourcing

Sino Great Global

Sinochem International

Sizer Metals

SKF

SKS Transnational

Sonangol

ST Engineering Land Systems

Stemcor

Sugih Energy

Sumitomo Chemical Asia

Supreme Components International

Swirecno

Swiss Singapore Overseas Enterprises

Syngenta Agro

Tata Power International

Telf AG

Tex Line Associates

Thales Group

Bangchak Petroleum

Toyota Tsusho Corporation

Trafigura Group

Trafol

Trigon Gulf

Triumph Global

UIL

Unipec

Vale

Valency International Trading

Vikudha Overseas

Virgoz Oils & Fats

Visa Resources

Vital Group

Vitol

Volvo Group

Wilmar International

Wilson International Trading

Winson Oil Bunkering

Xangbo Global Markets

Xinsha International

Yang Ming

Yokogawa Engineering

Zalora

Zhejiang Petroleum

ZTE Corporation

ATTENDEES

Companies who attended this year’s event

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Banks & financiers

Asian Development Bank

Aktif Bank

Bank ABC

Bank Al Habib

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Bank of Baroda

Barclays

BIDV

BMO Capital Markets

BNP Paribas

BNY Mellon

China CITIC Bank

Citi

Commerzbank

Commonwealth Trade Bank

Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank

Credit Suisse

DBS Bank

Deutsche Bank

Dutch-Bangla Bank

Emirates NBD

Euro Exim Bank

Federal Bank

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)

GarantiBank International

Goldman Sachs

HSBC

ICICI Bank

International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Intesa Sanpaolo

J.P. Morgan

Lloyds Bank

Macquarie Bank

Mastercard

Mizuho Bank

MUFG

National Australia Bank (NAB)

Natixis

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC)

Rabobank

RHB Banking Group

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)

Société Générale

Standard Chartered

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)

UniCredit

United Overseas Bank (UOB)

VISA

Wells Fargo

Westpac Banking Corporation

Non-bank financiers

Africa Merchant Capital

Cornerpiece Capital Partners

Culum Capital

Dow Jones

EFA Group

eFundSME Global

ExWorks Capital

Falcon Group

First Data Corporation

FirstCred Advisory

Fund Genesis

GE Capital

Global Trade Capital

GTR Ventures

iLoan Lanka

Incomlend

Joy Rich Ventures Limited

Lyra Capital

Maersk

Nuevo Asia Advisors

Nufund

Nuphi Credit

Orbitt

PTT Regional Treasury Centre

Riqueza Capital Group

SC Finance

SME Capital Holdings

Stenn International

Swan River Capital

Trade Finance Market

Tradewind Finance

Turako

Ventura Incorporated

Vivantaa Capital

Woodsford Trade Bridge

Technology & fintech

Accuity

Amplifier Lab

Asia Inovasi Teknologi

Bolero International

Buckman Laboratories

CarbonChain

China Systems

Coriolis Technologies

Cranium Ventures Limited

CrimsonLogic

Crypto BLK

DLT Ledgers

EffiaSoft

Flowcast

Future Labs

Hevea Connect

HPD LendScape

IQSQ

Kyriba

LiqEase

LiquidX

Lucidity Digital

MIT Micro Informatique & Technologies

Mitigram

Nufin Data

Obillex

PanXora

Pole Star

Polish Investment & Trade Agency

Premium Technology

Q&X Credit

R3 CEV

Razer

Samsung C&T Corporation

Schaeffler Group

SGInnovate

SourceSage

Stripe

Swift

Tallyx Inc

Tata Consultancy Services

Tech Data Corporation

Techstars

Tinubu Square

TradeAssets

TradeIX

TradeSun

Tradeteq

Traydstream

Trizon Technologies

Verifone

Worldpay

Consultants & accountants

Accenture

Afton Chemical

Andreia Capital

ASB

Atkins

Blockdoc

Certis International

CLC Holdings

Coinmen Capital

Deloitte Consulting

DLTAYLOR Consulting

ECODIT LLC

FutureMap

Hakuhodo Singapore

Hans Advisory & Trust

Hartree Partners

Ideas and Action

JTB

JV Bridge

Kernmantle

Lloyd's List Intelligence

Metabolic Asia

Nuevo Asia Capital

PRETB

PT Lahan Anugrah Sampurna

Publicis

Reefknot Investments

Resfeber International

Robust International

Sim Global Education

Trade Risk Consulting

Trade Window

Unicoin

VinaCapital

Zuellig

ATTENDEES

Companies who attended this year’s event

7 | www.gtreview.com

Insurers & risk managers

Aon

Argenta Hold ings

Atradius

AU Group

AXA XL

BPL Global

Chubb Global Markets

Coface

Control Risks Group Holdings

Ed Broking

Gallagher

Lancashire Insurance Group

Liberty Global

Liberty International Underwriters

Liberty Specialty Markets

Marsh JLT Specialty

NCI Brokers

PIB Insurance Brokers

RKH Specialty

Sompo International

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions

Tokio Marine Kiln Singapore

Willis Towers Watson

Zurich Credit & Political RiskLawyers

ABNR

Ashurst

Baker McKenzie

Bird & Bird

Covington & Burling

Francis Wilks & Jones

Herbert Smith Freehills

Jincheng Tongda & Neal

Reed Smith

Simmons & Simmons

Stephenson Harwood

Media

Dentsu Aegis Network

GTR

Haymarket

Helix Media

ICIS

Informa

Jack Morton Worldwide

Mediacorp

NHK

Photo Me International

South 32 Marketing

The Economist

Thomson Reuters

Video & Photo Service

Yogofi

Govt orgs & public bodies

Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT)

BAFT

CASA-1000 Power Project

Enterprise Singapore

FCI

Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA)

ICC Banking Commission

Investment & Development Agency of Latvia

Labuan IBFC

Ministry of Trade & Industry

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

Networked Trade Platform (NTP)

Singapore Customs

Singapore Exchange

UK Trade & Investment

World Trade Organization (WTO)Other

Credit Industriel Et Commercial (CIC)

CYS Global Remit

Export Development Canada (EDC)

GC Marketing Solutions

ICC Academy

The London Institute of Banking & Finance

UK Export Finance (UKEF)

University of Western Cape

“Excellent event for networking for trade industrial players.”

W Siewleok, Intesa Sanpaolo

“It was a great conference and it gets better and better every year.”

P Sonal, Société Generale

“The conference was excellent and a great success.”

K Hartwell, Africa Merchant Capital

ATTENDEES

Companies who attended this year’s event

8 | www.gtreview.com

●● Amit Agarwal, Executive Director & Head of Open Account Trade Products, Global Transaction Services, DBS

●● Marc Allen, Technical Director, engeco

●● Denise Ang, Managing Director, Nufin Data (Singapore)

●● Samuel Ang, Head of Credit & Trade Finance, Global Head of Credit, LNG & Shipping, Shell

●● Edmund Arghand, Senior Underwriter, Political & Credit Risk, Zurich

●● Stuart Ashworth, Managing Director, Financial Solutions, Asia Pacific, Willis Towers Watson

●● Marc Auboin, Counsellor, Economic Research & Statistics Division, World Trade Organisation (WTO)

●● Azeem Azmi, Vice-President, Enterprise Development, MasterCard

●● Theodoor Bakker, Senior Foreign Counsel, ABNR

●● Steven Beck, Head of Trade and Supply Chain Finance, Asian Development Bank

●● Nils Behling, Founder & CFO, Tradeteq

●● Chris Box, Director, Infrastructure Finance & Economics, Atkins Acuity

●● Graham Bright, Head of Compliance & Operations, Euro Exim Bank

●● Tod Burwell, President & Chief Executive Officer, BAFT

●● Carlos Casanova, Economist, Asia Pacific, Coface

●● Bhaskar Chattoraj, Senior Specialist, Cyber Risk & Control Governance APAC, Aon

●● Christina Chua, Divisional Director, Credit & Political Risks, Gallagher

●● Glynn Cooper, Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills

●● Lakshan Da Silva, CEO, iLoan (Sri Lanka)

●● Jolyon Ellwood-Russell, Partner, Financial Markets, Simmons & Simmons

●● Michael Every, Head of Financial Markets Research, Asia-Pacific, Rabobank

●● Kai Fehr, Global Head, International Trade Services, Wells Fargo

●● Samuel Fong, Chief Operating Officer, Agritrade International

●● Carlos Gonzalez Florenzano, Executive Director & Fund Manager, Global Trade Finance Fund, Lyra Capital

●● Rohit Goyal, Managing Director, APAC, LiquidX

●● Bharat Gupta, Regional Head of Trade & Structured Finance, Asia, Middle East & Africa, Olam International

●● Rebecca Harding, Chief Executive Officer, Coriolis Technologies; Author, ‘The Weaponization of Trade’

●● Malini Hariharan, Head of South Asia Markets, ICIS

●● Adam Hearne, CEO & Co-Founder, CarbonChain (UK)

●● Andras Hodi, Regional Treasury & Structured Finance APJ, Nokia

●● Klaus Houben, Chief Representative, South East Asia, EDC

●● Gerald Huang, Chief Sales Officer, Premium Technology

●● Nitin Jain, Head of Treasury & Capital Markets, Agrocorp International

●● Ujjwal Jain, Head of Trade, Singapore, Executive Director, Transaction Banking, Standard Chartered

●● Vishal Kapoor, Managing Director, Asia Trade Head, Citi

●● Munish Kaushal, Area Finance Director & CFO, GSK Southeast Asia

●● Parag Khanna, Founder & Managing Partner, FutureMap; Global Strategy Advisor & Author, ‘The Future is Asian’

●● Harsh Khurana, CEO, Obillex (UK)

●● Kim Kit Ow, Partner, Bird & Bird

●● Dimitri Kouchnirenko, Founding Partner, Incomlend; Co-Founder, LC Lite

●● Puja Kumar, Director, Head of Trade Risk Distribution APAC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

●● Agatha Lee, Head of Global Trade & Loan Products, Asia Pacific, J.P. Morgan

●● Linan Liu, Managing Director & Greater China FIC/Asia Rates Strategist, Deutsche Bank

●● Lawrence Loh, Managing Director & Group Head of Business Banking, UOB

●● Ricard Marzo, Venture Analyst, Amplifier

●● Peter Matza, Speakers’ Chair, Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT)

●● Lisa McAuley, Chief Executive Officer, Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA)

●● Tolentino Mendonca, Managing Director, Regional Head of Trade Finance, Asia-Pacific, Credit Agricole CIB

●● Vinay Mendonca, Global Head of Product & Proposition, Trade & Receivables Finance, HSBC

●● Jayant Menon, Lead Economist, Asian Development Bank

●● Jian Min Sim, CEO, SourceSage (Singapore)

●● Mohanavelu Muthukrishnan, Vice-President & Regional Head of Trade Product & Portfolio, Treasury Services, BNY Mellon

SPEAKERS

2019’s speakers included

9 | www.gtreview.com

●● Sriram Muthukrishnan, Managing Director & Group Head of Trade Product Management, Global Transaction Services, DBS

●● Nitin Navandher, Group Finance Controller, Phoenix Global

●● Jasmine Ng, CEO, Razer Fintech

●● Jun Nitta, Co-Head, Financial Institutions Group Funds, IFC Asset Management Company

●● Vincent O’Brien, Member, Executive Committee, ICC Banking Commission

●● Peter Ong, Chairman, Enterprise Singapore

●● Chris Pardey, Director, RCMA Group & Kincol Pte

●● Soo Peng Lee, Treasurer, Novatek Gas & Power Asia

●● Jérôme Pezé, Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Tinubu Square

●● James Ponsford, Regional Director & Growth Leader, Credit Solutions Asia, Aon

●● Sonal Priyanka, Regional Head of Trade & Supply Chain Finance, Société Générale

●● Bart Raemaekers, Advisor, PSOD & Head, Guarantees & Syndications Unit, Asian Development Bank (ADB)

●● Andrew Rigden Green, Partner, Stephenson Harwood

●● Simon Ring, Global Head of Financial Markets Compliance, Pole Star

●● Jordane Rollin, Global Head of Digital Transformation, Trade Finance, Standard Chartered

●● Henry Roxas, Global Head of Trade Finance, R3

●● Sumit Roy, Founder, President & CMO, TradeAssets

●● Jin Saibo, Partner, Jincheng Tongda & Neal

●● Saket Sarda, Head of Trade-Asean & South Asia, Transaction Banking, Standard Chartered

●● Chris Sawyer, Manager, Financial Risk Solutions, Asia Pacific, Liberty International Underwriters

●● Roheet Shah, COO & Co-Founder, CarbonChain (UK)

●● Ajay Sharma, Regional Head of Global Trade & Receivables Finance, Asia Pacific, HSBC

●● Sanman Shetty, Head, Trade & Supply Chain Finance Sales, Transaction Banking Office for Asia, MUFG

●● Soumen Sircar, Head of Business Solutions Asia Pacific, Visa

●● Larry Sloven, President, Capstone International HK

●● Ken So, CEO & Founder, Flowcast (Singapore)

●● Kaushalya Somasundaram, Consultant and leading fintech expert

●● Serene Soo, Regional Director, Political Risk & Structured Credit, Asia, Marsh JLT Specialty

●● Timothy Stratford, Managing Partner, Covington & Burling; Former Assistant US Trade Representative

●● Ashwin Subramaniam, Chief Executive Officer, GA Circular

●● David Sutter, Chief Strategy Officer, TradeIX/Marco Polo

●● Florence Tan, Country Head of Global Trade & Receivables Finance, China, HSBC

●● Louise Taylor-Digby, Head of Trade Markets, Asia Pacific, Swift

●● Claire Thompson, Executive Vice-President, Enterprise Partnerships, Mastercard

●● Seng Ti Goh, General Manager, Finance & Administration, Isuzu Motors Asia; President, ACT Singapore

●● Sanjay Tiwari, Head of Implementation, Maersk Trade Finance

●● Mark Troutman, Managing Director & Group Head of Sales, Global Transaction Services, DBS

●● Raj Uttamchandani, Executive Director, Trade Finance Market

●● Hareld van den Brink, Director, Metabolic Asia

●● Anupam Verma, Chief Executive, ICICI Bank Singapore

●● Ingrid Verschuren, Deputy Head of Professional Information Business & Senior Vice-President, Data Strategy, Dow Jones

●● Claudia Villasis-Wallraff, Manager, Commercial Treasury, Operations & Risk Excellence, Rio Tinto; Ambassador Singapore, Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT)

●● Hui Wang, CEO & Co-Founder, QNX Credit (China)

●● Steve Wilford, Senior Partner, Asia Pacific, Control Risks

●● Duncan Wong, CEO & Founder, CryptoBLK

●● Jean Woo, Partner, Ashurst

●● Eleanor Wragg, Senior Reporter, Global Trade Review (GTR)

●● Victor Yankovsky, Managing Director, Business Development, Stenn International

●● Wai Yee Choo, Deputy Director, Networked Trade Platform (NTP)

●● Yvonne Zhang, Head of Product & Partnerships, Hevea Connect

●● Burkhard Ziegenhorn, Managing Director & Head of Global Transaction Banking, ASEAN, Deutsche Bank

“Singapore GTR 2019 was an awesome event with a record turnout evidencing the efficient

management by the team. All the best for continued success around the globe.”

N Jain, Agrocorp International

SPEAKERS

2019’s speakers included

10 | www.gtreview.com

EVENT REPORT

GTR Asia 2019 – This year’s report card

2019’s GTR Asia gathering once again provided the premier opportunity for Asia’s trade finance market to convene and discuss the latest priorities for global trade, welcoming (you guessed it) a record turnout of corporates, traders, financiers, fintechs and other industry experts on the event’s 10-year anniversary.

But in a world dominated by trade wars and tradetech, what is there new to report?

1. American protectionism is nothing new

After a hugely positive and supportive address from Peter Ong, CEO of Enterprise Singapore (thanks to our partners at ES for this), the conference really got going with a fantastically entertaining opening presentation from Michael Every, Head of Financial Markets Research, Asia Pacific for Rabobank, the key message being that the US has always been a supporter of tariffs, from early leaders including George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln. For all Donald Trump’s unconventional approach to diplomacy, American scepticism towards free trade should come as nothing new.

2. Free trade across Asia isn’t easy either

Along with various presentations, panel discussions and breakout groups, this year also saw a number of debates take place, the first of which considered the prospects for free trade in the ASEAN community and the prospects for the CPTPP against the backdrop of various tariffs and non-tariff barriers. Going somewhat against the grain in the view that all businesspeople are optimists, a special audience poll concluded that much more needs to be done if free trade is to thrive in the current climate.

3. Supply chain friction - the truth behind the speculation

Once again the event benefitted from the insights of Dr Rebecca Harding, CEO of Coriolis Technologies and author of ‘The Weapononization of Trade’, who sought to shed light on the implications of current global friction for regional and global supply chains. So what is the truth? It seems that exports have underperformed across Asia since 2017, whilst Vietnam has benefitted in a way that Bangladesh has failed to. Transparency in ASEAN continues to be an issue, whilst opportunities outside ASEAN continue to grow. Meanwhile technology has been billed as a solution, but is also seen by many as part of the problem!

4. The time is now when it comes to tech

It will surprise no one to learn that once again technology and the role of digitalisation played a central role in the discussions taking place throughout the course of the 2 days, from a series of use group breakouts on blockchain consortia to discussions around how technology can play an increased role in trade asset distribution, the relationship between fintechs and banks (best of ‘frenemies’?) and how various solutions and offerings can benefit the traditional trade finance market in challenging times. This was teed up by a high-powered discussion from trade leaders on the opening morning which concluded that time was up for pilots and talk of potential and that people needed to start delivering.

5. Conferences can be fun!

This year’s event sought to find some light amidst the gloom, with an upbeat and enthusiastic audience happy to take part in a number of lively and engaging sessions, from the return of the GTR Ventures Tradetech Showcase Competition to the special fishbowl session format, which saw speakers presenting and discussing from what looked a bit like a boxing ring! A special artwall drawn by our skilled team of illustrators sought to capture the essence of proceedings, whilst our Day 2 conference chairman Vincent O’Brien brought the house down as host of our special GTR Quiz, which pitted 2 teams of ‘experts’ on a range of humorous topics and issues.

When combined with the unrivalled networking opportunities of nearly 1,300 experts in the one venue I think we can confidently conclude it was another good year.

We’re looking forward to the next one already!

“For all Donald Trump’s unconventional approach to diplomacy, American scepticism towards free trade

should come as nothing new.”

PRESS RELEASE

11 | www.gtreview.com

2. Asia is bucking the trend away

from globalisation… or is it?

3. Mind the

(trade finance) gap

4. Digitisation: is everyone on board?

THAT’S A WRAP!

Post-conference report: Top takeaways from GTR Asia 2019

GTR Asia returned to Singapore on September 3-4, 2019, reflecting on a momentous year for global trade and developments in the Asian market. Bringing together almost 1,300 participants – a new record – the event saw players from local and international banks to multinational corporations and SMEs, independent financiers, commodity brokers and traders, insurers and risk managers, lawyers, consultants, ECAs and multilaterals, join to discuss a wide range of topics, from the impacts on Asia of the China-US trade war to the outlook for intra-regional trade, and the perennial hot topic of digitisation. In this post-conference wrap-up, we bring together some of the main takeaways and key insights

1. The trade war

and geopolitical uncertainty are keeping

everyone up at night, but optimism

remains

P O S T - C O N F E R E N C E R E P O R T F R O M

Read the full report

PRESS RELEASE