Tighter travel and daily restrictions are expected to be rolled out across European countries as concern grows over new variants from South Africa and Brazil. Hungary has become the first European country to purchase Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, despite the lack of approval from EU medical watchdogs. Japanese car manufacturer Nissan has secured its production plant in Sunderland following the EU-UK trade deal.
UK Export Finance unlocks trade to Egypt and supports UK jobs with a £1.7bn guarantee
A consortium led by Bombardier Transportation has confirmed a deal with the Egyptian Government to build two new monorails thanks to £1.7 billion backing from UK Export Finance (UKEF), the largest amount of financing it has ever provided for an overseas infrastructure project. Read more →
ICC welcomes G20 commitment on equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines
ICC has issued a statement following the conclusion of the annual G20 leaders’ summit. ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO said: “The governments of the world’s richest nations are ultimately wielding a double-edged sword: vaccine nationalism represents the most significant downside risk to a rapid recovery from the crisis in the months ahead.” Read more →
Citi to adopt unified ISO 20022 migration in its global payments operations
Citi will be the first Volante customer to offer a unified approach to ISO 20022 migration across the globe. Volante Technologies, the global leader in cloud payments and financial messaging, and Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions (Citi) are deepening their longstanding relationship to accelerate the bank’s adoption of the ISO 20022 financial messaging standard across its global payments operations. Read more →
KOMGO and MITECH increase end-to-end workflow collaboration
KOMGO and MITECH formally announce extended collaboration to provide end-to-end workflows in two main areas. The first being an integration of KOMGO’s system TRAKK with MITECH’s TRAC middle-office Collateral Management system. Read more →
ADB Calls for Far-Reaching Reforms to Build Resilient Education Systems Amid COVID-19
Governments and stakeholders in Asia and the Pacific should initiate far-reaching reforms to strengthen the resilience of education and training systems as they deal with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a new guidance note from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Read more →
Etihad Credit Insurance and TDB cooperate to boost UAE and African trade
The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) and Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE Federal export credit company, have, today, during a virtual ceremony, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the purpose of bolstering business activity and trade between the United Arab Emirates and TDB Member States. Read more →
Malaysia initiates WTO dispute complaint against EU palm oil measures
Malaysia has requested WTO dispute consultations with the European Union regarding measures adopted by the EU and its member states affecting palm oil and palm crop-based biofuels. The request was circulated to WTO members on 19 January. Read more →
Call on G20 to deliver Common Framework for Debt Treatments
ICC, ITUC and Global Citizen urge G20 governments to take necessary steps to avoid a ‘lost decade’ of sustainable development. The open letter comes ahead of a meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors this Friday to finalise a Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative. Read more →
AMSP opens COVID-19 vaccines pre-orders for 55 African Union Member States
Afreximbank commits to facilitating payments of 270 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by providing advance procurement commitment guarantees of up to US$2 billion to the manufacturers on behalf of the Member States. Read more →
