The International Chamber of Commerce- Qatar (ICC-Qatar) announced yesterday its support of the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) call for urgent action from G20 leaders in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. ICC has urged the G20 to take action to safeguard the supply of essential working capital and short-term credit to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Chairman of Qatar Chamber and ICC-Qatar, Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani (pictured), welcomed the early actions taken by governments, development banks and regulators to provide support for trade finance in response to the initial impacts of the crisis, but believes there is a clear rationale for additional interventions to mitigate the risk of trade financing gaps inhibiting a post-pandemic recovery. In a statement issued yesterday, Sheikh Khalifa stressed that trade finance is a vital lifeline for many small businesses and underpins over 80 percent of global trade. This call to action is especially timely as there has been an increase in the failure rates of SMEs globally in recent months in both advanced and emerging economies.
