The Institute of Export & International Trade and EY have come together to co-author a new report on the importance of businesses adopting TradeTech.
Key takeaways:
- TradeTech is a fundamental part of ensuring that international trade processes move away from paper-based forms and allowing businesses to digitalise their trading operations.
- The benefits of TradeTech for businesses include increased efficiency, more accurate processes, reduced operating and trading costs, supply chain transparency and resilience, and inclusive and sustainable trade outcomes.
- The report sets out an analytical model that breaks down opportunities into business use-cases (e.g. trade finance, customs, etc) and the underpinning technologies (digitalisation of documents, AI, Internet of Things) in order to define the different benefits which can be derived from TradeTech.
In the report IOE&IT and EY explore practical steps and the potential benefits TradeTech can add to businesses, helping them to grow their international trade footprints, increase traceability of products and make supply chains more transparent and resilient. These are outlined in more detail below.
The digitalisation of trade processes has been slow, owing to a combination of factors including regulatory barriers, with many international trade processes still requiring paper-based forms and lack of interoperability between systems.
This new report is aimed at providing not just businesses, but policymakers with the necessary background to understand the benefits of adopting TradeTech solutions and how it relates to their international trade journey.
Marco Forgione, Director General of The IOE&IT, said: “This report is an essential step to demystify what TradeTech can do for businesses and how it can address the growing complexities of moving goods and services across borders.”
He continued “The process of digitalising trade is long overdue, we need to help educate businesses to build capacity and implement the systems they need to take full advantage of the technology being developed. It is also integral that governments and policymakers fully understand not just the economic benefits that TradeTech can deliver, but, how these processes can reduce barriers to doing business and make international trade more inclusive and widespread.”
TradeTech will become ever more prevalent in the UK with the up and coming announcement from the government on the Target Operating Model (TOM), which will be launched in 2023, redesigning the country’s border operations from top to bottom as part of the wider Border 2025 strategy.
Sally Jones, EY Partner, said: “Businesses in the UK have a unique opportunity to become global leaders in adopting TradeTech solutions as part of their operations. The UK’s rich tech ecosystem, combined with an enabling regulatory environment, leads the world in trialling these new technologies.”
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