WT/WGTDF /19 
 
29 January 2021  
(21-0801) Page: 1/1 
   
 
 
REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON TRADE, DEBT AND FINANCE (2020)  
TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL  
 
1.1.  The Working Group held two meetings, on 2 July 2020 and 10 November 2020, under the 
Chairmanship of H.E. Dr. Rashidi Said (Malaysia).  
1.2.  At the meeting on 2 July 2020, the Working Group discussed the impact of the COVID -19 
pandemic on trade finance availability. Several Members from Africa, Latin America and Asia took 
the floor to note that since the beginning of the pandemic, trade finance shorta ges, which had existed 
before the pandemic, had actually increased, and had impeded the imports of goods and medical 
equipment necessary to fight the COVID -19 pandemic, and the exports of essential goods in their 
countries. They described operational diffi culties encountered during lockdowns and immediately 
after, including the lack of availability of documents for the processing of trade finance requests, the 
occurrence of payment refusals by buyers, as well as increased difficulties met by SMEs in obtaini ng 
trade loans and repaying them. This SME dimension was particularly emphasized, a large majority 
of traders in developing countries fell in this category of enterprises. Some Members described policy 
steps implemented by their governments to address the situation, such as trade loan repayments 
extension and deferral schemes, as well as credit guarantee schemes whenever available. After a 
brief exchange of views regarding next steps, notably the possibility of inviting external speakers to 
provide addition al information and briefing, it was agreed to invite one representative of a 
multilateral development agency and one representative of the private sector at the following 
meeting. The Chairman also invited Members to provide written submissions on this top ic, in time 
for other Members to examine them.  
1.3.  At the meeting on 10 November 2020, the WGTDF reverted to the topic of trade finance and 
current gaps. As agreed at the previous meeting, a representative of a multilateral development 
bank (the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, EBRD) and a representative of the 
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) had been invited to further brief the Working Group. The 
Representative of the EBRD indicated that while the COVID -19 crisis had caused significan t 
disruptions to existing supply chains (through temporary plant closures, retail lockdowns, as well as 
through border closures), the availability of trade finance had shrunk even faster in the EBRD 
countries of operation, with the risk appetite of confirm ing banks being very quickly reduced, 
especially for emerging markets. The EBRD has doubled its trade finance facilitation programme's 
intervention limits to support its membership in these difficult times. The representative of the ICC 
indicated that trad e finance supply had been falling by 20% down year -on-year, with several large 
banks exiting the market, some as a result of fraud, some in refocusing their businesses on larger 
corporates where the risk profiles were perceived to be better. He emphasised the need to move 
forward on the digitisation of trade finance. In the absence of further remarks by Members, one 
delegation emphasized that the work of the Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance needed to 
remain Member -driven . This delegation's view was that the Working  Group should meet on the basis 
of: (i) Members' requests for agenda items; (ii) Members' submissions to the Working Group; and 
(iii) Members' requests, agreed by consensus, for information and analysis from experts and the 
Secretariat. Thi s was noted by the Chair in his concluding remarks.  
1.4.  On 17 December 2020, one delegation proposed a written submission regarding access to trade 
finance in the context of Covid -19, for the consideration of other Members (WT/WGTDF/W/98).  
1.5.  On 28 January 2021, the Working Group adopted its Annual Report (2020) to the General 
Council.  
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