Building a collaborative global ecosystem to empower and educate SMEs through a global trusted professionalised network
26.01.2018
It has been widely researched and broadly acknowledged that SMEs and micro-enterprises are important drivers of economic value-creation around the world, whether in developing markets or OECD economies. Similarly, the character of international trade as an engine of growth was axiomatic for decades prior to the global crisis.
Combing the value-creation energy of MSMEs with the power of global trade is at the core of the vision and purpose of the Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA).
Even as we acknowledge the value of international commerce in advancing and enriching the human experience, it is incumbent upon practitioners and stakeholders at this moment, to recognise its imperfections and inequities in the architecture of global trade.
With this backdrop, the launch of the GTPA at the ICTSD Symposium is both timely and appropriate. The GTPA will evolve into a global, trusted, competency-based network of professionals across global supply chains that are the arteries of global commerce. The GTPA will encompass certified members and other network members from the largest multinational to the smallest sub-supplier based in South Asia or Africa where many supply chains are anchored, and will welcome the most advanced service supplier to the smallest boutique advisory firm supporting international trade. The global, cross-sectoral and wide commercial/demographic reach of the GTPA will advance competencies and professionalism across the global architecture for trade, support economic inclusion and contribute to the creation of global economic value.
The GTPA session at TSDS introduced the Alliance, exploring the critical need for thoughtful, informed discourse and advocacy around international trade, followed by a discussion around the theme of professionalization and the value of raising standards of practice across a full spectrum of trade specialisms, on the basis of defined competencies and ISO Standards. The session proceeded to present the power of a trusted global network, and concluded by highlighting that the GTPA takes a holistic, inclusive view of international commerce.
Video credit: International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)