ICC Saudi Arabia to support Saudi Trade Finance Summit

Dubai-based QnA International is set to host the annual Saudi Trade Finance Summit in partnership with the Saudi arm of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
The event will be held from Nov. 10-11 at the Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh.
The two-day summit will feature panels on risk assessments, finance strategy, supply chain finance, and Islamic finance among other topics.
The event, now in its third edition, is an exclusive by-invitation only gathering of the most influential senior finance professionals and decision-makers in Saudi Arabia — the largest economy in the GCC pursuing economic diversification goals.
An important area for the development and diversification of domestic economies is international trade based on goods and services. This, however, requires financing provided by trade finance.
“Although international trade has slowed down in the recent years, 63.3 percent of respondents to the 2015 ICC Global Survey on Trade Finance reported an increase in trade finance activity,” Yassin Suroor, chairman of ICC Saudi Arabia, said.
The increases that Suroor mentioned are partially due to organizations seeking increased financial protection for potential risks and defaults in the current turbulent world of trade emphasizing the importance of trade finance products.
“Instead of focusing on the negatives currently in global trade, organizations involved in trade finance should consider developing novel financial products suited to the current global market” commented Sidh N.C., director, QnA International.
“In Saudi Arabia, “the availability of trade finance is paramount for newer organizations borne from the government’s economic diversification plans, which are primarily SMEs,” he added.
However, a worrying result from the ICC survey suggests SMEs accounted for 53 percent of all rejected trade finance transactions. “This could happen if the correct compliance procedures, protocols and rules are not followed properly and lead to the rejection of the trade finance transaction,” explained Suroor.