By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, MAY 07, 2016: THE World Trade Organization (WTO) has come out with a timely report on how the small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the world are facing crisis in terms of trade finance which can possibly break the back bone of the SMEs industry, if the problem remains unaddressed. The publication is titled as "Trade Finance and SMEs: bridging the gaps in provision"  was released by the WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo, who invited international bodies to work in collaboration with WTO to ensure that trade finance does not become an obstacle to the internationalization of SMEs.

This recent initiative of WTO has been warmly welcomed by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), a long standing partner of WTO. The ICC Secretary General John Danilovich shared the concern highlighted in the report and said that "ICC is taking urgent action to address this problem - including through the ICC Academy and our Banking Commission."

The WTO report cites the 2015 ICC Global Survey, which shows that around 50% of all SME applications for trade finance are now rejected. To address this looming crisis, ICC is actively taking steps to address the chronic shortfall in trade finance in many developing economies-including through an active dialogue with G20 governments. This problem was also a central theme of discussion at the 2016 annual meeting of the ICC Banking Commission - held in Johannesburg as part of a broader outreach strategy for ICC in Africa.

The report published by WTO calls for enhanced capacity-building support for trade finance. The report recommends that technical assistance must be enhanced with the support of donors to build capacity in local banking sectors. Further, the report also exposes the acute lack of aggregate information and has therefore required ICC to pool various sources of information and surveys available in the annual ICC Global Survey and in the ICC Trade Register initiative.

The time is propitious that the Indian bodies like FICCI, CII and PHD Chambers of Commerce join hands with ICC and take the initiative to revive the Indian SME sector which is presently facing massive problems due to lack of trade financing and skilled training.