November 2022

The Saudi British Bank (SABB) presented key insights on developing the future of trade finance in the Kingdom during a discussion dialogue at the 10th annual Saudi Trade Finance Summit held on November 14-15, which brought together a group of decision-makers, senior experts, professionals, and leaders in the trade finance sector from various governmental and private institutions.

The discussions at the summit focused on the most prominent challenges and opportunities arising from the Saudi trade finance sector, including liquidity management, supply chain financing, rapid adoption of digitization, and technological innovations to improve trade finance as well as sustainable development. This is part of the summit's efforts to discuss the best ways to achieve the Vision 2030 objectives of financial diversification and inclusion, as well as private sector development, by promoting trade in the Kingdom with international markets and its position as a regional and global business center.

SABB co-sponsored this summit as a platinum sponsor as it is considered one of the most important events in the trade finance sector in the Kingdom, in addition to its participation in offering solutions and exchanging ideas on the vital role of digitization on trade growth, developing trade finance tools, and addressing challenges by improving access to the most appropriate solutions to boost business growth while increasing efficiency, improving cost, and managing risk.

Sean Bowey, Head of Product - Global Trade and Receivables Finance at SABB, presented a working paper titled "Digitising of Trade Finance," in which he discussed increasing efficiency, managing costs, mitigating risk within the supply chain, automation and advanced analytics to improve trade finance operations. He also spoke about technical solutions to enable frictionless mobility amid regulatory changes and trade finance, as well as ways to leverage blockchain-based infrastructure to increase efficiency, reduce costs and open up new opportunities.

SABB is considered one of the leading banks in the field of trade finance, as it offers several products and services aimed at promoting the role of trade finance, in an effort to stimulate the economy and business development in order to achieve the objectives of Vision 2030.