GTR Trade Talks

Rerouting Asia’s supply chains

One of the key consequences of various developments in the region is the ongoing rerouting of many of Asia’s supply chains, seen as only likely to continue in the current climate. This podcast, a featured session from GTR Asia 2019, will address the following:

• To what extent are firms restructuring their supply chains in order to avoid tariffs on Chinese products? How successful has the sourcing of alternative options proved?
• Have we already seen greater focus on sourcing goods from markets such as Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam? How hard is it to repeat the scale of China and how can others compete?
• How significant are cost issues, particularly bearing in mind increasing wage structures in many markets? Are more manufacturers either looking for cheaper hubs or greater process automation? Are more adopting a ‘China Plus’ strategy?
• Are more companies now looking at reshoring or nearshoring to reduce supply chain disruption? How expensive and time-consuming is it to shift production in an uncertain climate? What role do financiers have to play?
• How important is clarity and transparency over where products and goods are sourced from in the current climate? What role can technology play in the process?

Moderator: Puja Kumar, Director, Head of Trade Risk Distribution APAC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Munish Kaushal, Area Finance Director & CFO, GSK Southeast Asia
Larry Sloven, President, Capstone International HK
Sanjay Tiwari, Head of Implementation, Maersk Trade Finance
Anupam Verma, Chief Executive, ICICI Bank Singapore
Malini Hariharan, Head of South Asia Markets, ICIS

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

The future of trade: Where is the market heading

A lot can happen in a year! GTR Asia 2018 was dominated by the backdrop of ongoing trade tensions and potential ramifications of a full-scale trade war between the US and China. So what is new 12 months later? During GTR Asia 2019, the world’s largest international gathering for the trade finance community, six experts come together to reflect on a range of topics including:

• Trade tensions and the geopolitical environment: Have things simmered down somewhat? Are we back to a new normal or is there even a ‘normal’ to return to? Are technology transfer and IP likely to remain as key sticking points?
• With initiatives such as Belt & Road shifting economic activity eastwards, how are banks and corporates responding? Is greater collaboration
  required and if so how has the stated shift from multilateralism to bilateralism impacted?
• What are the key sectors that have been identified as being ripe for PPPs and other scalable commercial opportunities (digital transformation, cybersecurity, digital economy, smart cities, renewable energy)?
• Where are technology and innovation leading the market? Data and digitisation have proved key but is there sufficient regulatory oversight? Where is Asia leading the way and where does it need to catch up?

Analysis by: Michael Every, Head of Financial Markets Research, Asia-Pacific, Rabobank

Moderator: Parag Khanna, Founder & Managing Partner, FutureMap; Global Strategy Advisor & Author, ‘The Future is Asian’
Ajay Sharma, Regional Head of Global Trade & Receivables Finance, Asia Pacific, HSBC
Timothy Stratford, Managing Partner, Covington & Burling; Former Assistant US Trade Representative
Vishal Kapoor, Managing Director, Asia Trade Head, Citi
Claire Thompson, Executive Vice-President, Enterprise Partnerships, Mastercard