Facilitating Global Trade, Especially Small Business Exports

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The  U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has signed the Strategic Alliance Memorandum (SAM) with the International Trade & Forfaiting Association (ITFA). The two organizations will work to educate exporters and lenders on financing methods and risk mitigation solutions necessary to facilitate global trade.

ITFA is a global trade association representing the interests of banks, financial institutions, and service providers involved in trade risk and asset origination and distribution, formalizing the SBA’s existing relationship with the association.

To learn more, visit here.

EXIM Bank Takes the Lead and Offers Maximum Financial Flexibility to Facilitate USA Exports

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The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) board of directors recently underscored its strong support for new initiatives to inject liquidity into the market and give maximum financing flexibility to facilitate sales of U.S. goods and services abroad.

They agreed to support:

• Bridge Financing Program
• Pre-Delivery/Pre-Export Financing Program
• Supply Chain Financing Guarantee Program; and
• Working Capital Guarantee Program

More detail on each initiative can be found here with links to fact sheets with additional information.

Just in by trade finance expert Ursula Wegrzynowicz, "Those exporters who started applications, but did not complete, should complete those processes asap."

Using Bitcoin to Facilitate Global Trade

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Many people roll their eyes when you bring up bitcoin.  Yet IBM is using the technology behind bitcoin to help farmers and other small businesses in underdeveloped countries participate in global trade.

The companies [Stellar.org and KlickEx.com] will use IBM's blockchain technology to process financial transactions across borders and currencies — a process which is often prohibitively slow and costly for small business owners, especially when they are in developing regions with smaller banking infrastructures.

It's a path forward through underdeveloped payment corridors.

Read more here:  IBM, bitcoin and countries in weak banking systems.