Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala joined leaders of multilateral development banks and other international organizations at a high-level roundtable held on the sidelines of the 2026 World Bank - International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, on 16 October to review progress in expanding supply chain finance in developing economies and to discuss priorities for the next phase of cooperation.
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. (....)