Global trade is facing rising uncertainty, quickly and often.. Supply chain disruptions, geopolitical tensions, inflation, shifting sanctions, and increasingly complex regulations are making it harder for businesses to operate with confidence..
Companies of all sizes are looking for reassurances that their investments, contracts, and shipments will move securely and predictably across borders..
This is why conversations on restoring trust and resilience in trade are both timely and vital..
At the recently concluded ICC Academy’s Supply Chain Finance Summit in Singapore, I had the opportunity to speak with John W.H. Denton AO, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), to understand how global commerce can regain the confidence required to thrive..
Denton’s insights reinforced the ICC’s position as a driving force for stability and certainty in an evolving commercial landscape..
The currency global trade needs is certainty
Denton emphasised that the ICC’s overarching mission is to provide order and predictability at a time of unprecedented global uncertainty..
“Wherever there is uncertainty, we as ICC try to put certainty. Wherever there is disorder, we try and find order,” Denton explained. “Right now, uncertainty is the biggest inhibitor of trade, even more than tariffs,” added Denton..
The ICC is actively working across markets to reduce that uncertainty for businesses everywhere.. This includes reinforcing functioning supply chains and ensuring that they are supported with the necessary access to finance..
For Denton, supply chains are not just operational networks.. They are core to global economic stability.. Strengthening them requires not only physical infrastructure but also financial access..
One of the critical issues is ensuring that there are functioning and effective supply chains..
The backbone of certainty is resilient and sustainable supply chains
Denton drew a clear link between supply chain resilience and the need to support them financially.. “Part of a supply chain is ensuring that there’s access to finance to support it.” said Denton..
ICC has been addressing this as essential to restoring confidence in global trade ..
“At this conference, we’ll be talking about the elements that can actually improve access to finance for supply chains. But also, we’ll be talking about how we make those supply chains more resilient,” added Denton..
Denton noted that sustainability has become a critical part of supply chain resilience.. “We are linking supply chains with sustainability principles. That’s something we’ve done on our own initiative without any ask from governments because the reality is they can’t do it, we’re doing it for them.”
We are giving businesses confidence that the supply chains they participate in are not only sustainable, but that they have the capacity to fully participate in them,” added Denton..
Trade finance gap and cost of trade finance at a global policy level
Queried about ICC’s role in helping global trade to reduce the trade finance gap with events like the ICC Academy’s Supply Chain Finance Summit, Denton commented that “ICC plays an enormous role in global trade.
We’re one of the great enablers of the trading environment, enabling something like $17.5 trillion worth of economic activity every year.
So we’re not an observer, we’re a player.”
The ICC is working through the G20 process to try and change the actual macro-prudential framework, which has given rise to the high cost of trade finance..
Denton confirmed that the ICC is influencing change at the highest levels.. “We have been working through the G20 process to make the macro prudential framework more contemporary.”
This advocacy effort continues as the G20 shifts leadership to South Africa and then to the United States, two economies where trade participation, supply chain investment, and African market connectivity will be central themes..
Key takeaways
From the conversation with Denton, several clear messages emerged:
- Certainty creates confidence
- Trade finance is not a niche concern
- Sustainability is a competitive mandate
- Policy influence matters
- ICC is actively shaping outcomes
As the world economy continues to reset and recalibrate, the ICC’s message is clear.. Certainty is a strategic resource.. One that must be built in partnership by businesses, industry platforms, and policymakers..
The ICC’s journey continues, across ASEAN, through Africa, and into the Americas with its mission to ensure that trade strengthens prosperity, expands opportunity, and provides certainty in a world that urgently needs stability..
