<span style="color: #222222;">An international conference on cooperation on trade finance among the G20 member countries was held in Mumbai on Tuesday. Organised by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry on the sidelines of the first meeting of the G20 Trade and Investment Working Group; delegates, industry and academic experts engaged in constructive dialogue and exchange of ideas in the domain of trade finance.<br />''<br />''In his keynote address, Commerce Secretary, Sunil Barthwal highlighted the importance of discussion on the issues plaguing trade finance and its possible solutions. The first panel discussions, experts deliberate on the role of banks, financial institutions, development finance institutions, and Export Credit Agencies to identify the gaps and address the challenges in the trade finance arena amidst the uncertain global trade landscape. The second panel discussion focused on accelerating digitalisation and fintech solutions for improving access to trade finance.<br />''<br />''The universal message from all the speakers in the conference highlighted the necessity of trade for ensuring prosperity for all. The panellists recommended that all nations should endeavour to adopt enabling legislation in the next few years to achieve paperless international trade.<br />''<br />'' Stating that the traditional trade finance gap is currently around two trillion dollars, the panellists suggested that bridging this gap would need participation of more players, including multilateral development banks and Export Credit Agencies. The panel also felt that digitalisation of international trade is possibly an effective solution towards achieving cost reduction in trade and trade finance.</span><br />