Six ways ICC served world business in 2015

ICC Academy: a new global standard in business education

In partnership with IE Singapore, ICC launched the ICC Academy, a dynamic digital platform for delivering rigorous and relevant business education.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, DBS, OCBC Bank, Banco Santander, and Standard Bank all signed on to train their employees using the Academy’s first trade finance programmes-the most comprehensive trade finance training ever developed.

Setting the agenda on trade finance

Receiving input from 112 countries around the world ICC’s 2015 Global Survey on trade finance providing a snapshot of market trends. The survey highlighted the impact of the trade finance gap on SMEs revealing that SMEs account for nearly 53% of all rejected trade finance transactions but also showed some positive trade finance trends, particularly with regards to export finance. The survey is published by the ICC Banking Commission named “Best Global Digital Innovator in Trade Finance” in the 2015 Trade Finance Global Excellence Awards.

Sustainable development – a brighter future for all

ICC Chairman Terry McGraw and Secretary General John Danilovich joined the likes of Jack Ma, Founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba, Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group as signatories of a letter calling on world leaders to commit to working actively and constructively with the private sector to deliver on the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals.

As the designated lead business organization-or focal point-for the COP21 talks , ICC also called for an ambitious climate deal at COP21 that would work with business to speed emissions reductions, provide enabling conditions for investment and innovation, and build climate resilience in line with the SDGs ICC hosted several events to facilitate private sector engagement including the official COP21 Business Day on 4 December and the ICC Photographic Award on the theme of climate change. ICC also hailed the historic climate deal reached earlier this month.

G20: ICC influence where it counts
Sunil Bharti Mittal, the Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises and ICC First Vice-Chairman led ICC’s delegation to the G20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey. CEOs from the ICC-led B20 International Business Advisory Council (IBAC) outlined four key areas for urgent action by the G20 as Ratifying and implementing the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), taking concrete actions to create more opportunities for women and young people in the labour market, establishing country-specific infrastructure strategies to boost investment in much needed infrastructure projects worldwide, and improving SME access to finance.

Digital economy and the future of the Internet

Through its Business Action to Support the Information Society (BASIS) initiative, ICC mobilized business participation at the UN-linked 10th Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in João Pessoa, Brazil, continuing to advocate for inclusive discussions on the future of the Internet. Just two weeks later ICC applauded the UN’s 10-Year Review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS +10) High-Level Meeting for endorsing the global multistakeholder community’s collective management of the Internet and extending the mandate of the IGF for another 10 years.

In other IT-related news, ICC also welcomed the expansion of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) that holds the potential to inject up to US$190 billion into the global economy and advance international efforts to attain SDGs.

Global Alliance to speed implementation trade facilitation deal

Our busy year concluded with the launch of The Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation – a unique platform for leveraging business expertise to support effective implementation of the WTO’s landmark Trade Facilitation Agreement. The Alliance was initiated based on contributions from the Government of Canada, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the UK Department for International Development and the US Agency for International Development. Be sure to keep up-to-date with the latest news from the Alliance in 2016 by visiting www.tradefacilitation.org

ICC Arbitration and ADR in 2015

Click here to see this year’s highlights of the ICC International Court of Arbitration and ICC Alternative Dispute Resolution Services.ICC