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On 28 November 2023, ICC UK released an excellent paper entitled "Unleashing the potential of trade digitalisation".

As highlighted in the Executive Summary, the report reveals tangible evidence of
the commercial advantages stemming from digital paperless trade transactions available today. 

The paper highlights that digitalising trade transactions is the first step to transitioning away from paper to a data driven trading system which enables companies to bear down on trade costs and access cheaper finance.

ICC's goal is to digitalise 60-80% of world trade by 2026 and establish a fully interoperable legal, rules and standards environment. As they state, the tools are there to enable that transformation - legislation, standards, treaties and technology - what has been lacking up to now is a clear statement of the business case for digital adoption. 

In 2021/22, ICC United Kingdom and The Commonwealth published the benefits of digitalising trade transactions across 60 economies, large and small. The evidence was striking in terms of scale and benefit: 

• 80% cut in trade transaction cost 
• 50% reduction in the trade finance gap 
• Cross border processing times cut from 25 days to one day 
• 35% increase in SME efficiency 
• $9 trillion in trade growth across the G7 
• 1.1 trillion in trade growth across The Commonwealth, $2 trillion if combined with customs digitalisation, double The Commonwealth trade target by 2030 
• UK - £25 billion SME trade growth and, £224 billion in efficiency savings in the UK 

The report goes on to outline the legal environment, business benefits, and implementation lessons.

A number of important and interesting case studies for the future of digitalised trade finance round off the report.

We strongly recommend that you download the report, link below:

https://iccwbo.uk/blogs/press-releases/international-chamber-of-commerce-uk-launches-major-report-on-benefits-of-digitalisation-of-trade

www.tradefinance.training