WTO and multilateral partners review progress on supply chain finance initiative
The discussion, organized jointly by the WTO and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), built on commitments made in the 2024 joint statement on Boosting Supply Chain Trade in Emerging Markets. Participants assessed developments since the launch of the initiative and examined how the current global trade and economic environment is affecting access to supply chain finance, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in low-income and vulnerable economies.
Opening the meeting, DG Okonjo-Iweala highlighted the importance of supply chain finance in helping firms participate in international trade and integrate into regional and global value chains.
She said: "Expanding access to supply chain finance is essential to ensuring that smaller businesses can seize trade opportunities and contribute to economic growth. By working together, multilateral institutions can help address persistent financing gaps and support more inclusive participation in global trade."
IFC's Managing Director and Executive Vice President, Makhtar Diop, who co-chaired the event, said: "Supply chain finance can have a transformative impact on trade flows and emerging market economies when the right elements come together: capital, legal infrastructure, digital platforms, and the market capacity to put it to work. Together, multilateral development banks (MDBs) are uniquely positioned to strengthen regulatory and market conditions and leverage our own capital to mobilize private investment at scale, channeling it to smaller businesses and markets where access to finance remains out of reach."
Participants reviewed work undertaken since 2024 to help SMEs overcome the barriers they face in obtaining trade-related financing. This work has included expanding supply chain finance programmes, strengthening legal and regulatory frameworks, promoting market infrastructure, building institutional capacity and broadening the range of financing products available to businesses.
Supply chain finance helps support SMEs' participation in trade by providing affordable financing that improves firms' cash flow. Direct financing provided by multilateral development banks has grown from about USD 35 billion annually before the COVID-19 to about USD 65 billion in 2026, benefiting both low and middle-income countries. Of this, USD 10 billion corresponds to supply chain finance in developing economies, which represents a two-to-threefold increase from 2024.
The roundtable also explored ways to mobilize greater private-sector participation and investment in supply chain finance markets. Participants also discussed practical measures for broadening access to underserved markets and improving SMEs' resilience in supply chains. This includes local currency financing for product innovation, partnerships, capacity-building and financial product awareness.
Participants reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing cooperation through the existing Supply Chain Finance Task Force under the WTO's Multilateral Development Banks Working Group. The Task Force coordinates action across multilateral development banks, namely the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the Afreximbank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (Islamic Development Bank Group). Multilateral development banks coordinate with the WTO Secretariat and with private sector institutions, such as the International Chamber of Commerce and FCI, the global representative body for the factoring and receivables finance industry.
The Working Group agreed at the roundtable to continue coordinating efforts aimed at expanding financing opportunities in developing economies.
The roundtable brought together senior representatives from multilateral development banks and international organizations participating in the supply chain finance initiative.
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