Receiving a Royal Charter is a “huge recognition” for the recently rebranded Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade, the minister for services, small business and exports has said.
Gareth Thomas MP was speaking at a special event hosted by the Chartered Institute in the House of Lords last night (9 September) to mark its new status.
‘Quality’ recognised
Thomas spoke alongside the Chartered Institute’s president Lord Green, chairman Terry Scuoler MCIEx and director general Marco Forgione MCIEx.
“The Chartered status is a huge recognition of the quality of the work that the Institute does,” the minister said.
He also welcomed the “timely” new report on ways to boost UK SME exports from the E-Commerce Trade Commission. The Chartered Institute convened the Commission in June 2023.
“There is an opportunity to both recognise the significance of digital trade now and what it might become in the future.
“A huge amount of global trade is done digitally, but the recommendations in the paper made clear that there is much more to be done.”
The Harrow West MP said he was looking forward to working with industry – “particularly those that have been part of the Commission’s work” – to “accelerate the rollout of the recommendations in the paper”.
Trusted trade
Forgione also described Chartered status as a “unique recognition”, noting that the institute was one of the first bodies to be awarded a Royal Charter by HM King Charles III.
“It is testament to the important role of global international trade and the challenges that we face not just here, but internationally,” he said.
He added that, amid the “reshaping of global supply chains” due to changing geopolitics and the effects of the pandemic, “traditional beliefs around free trade are under incredible duress”.
He said the Chartered Institute now had an “essential role in interpreting, informing and shaping the new agenda for global trade”, and said that this needed to include a move towards an “environment of trusted trade”.
“Trusted trade – founded on the principles of honesty, integrity, partnership and technology – has to be the way that we spread the undoubted benefits of healthy compliant, global international trade.
“If we are to address the most significant societal and economic challenges that we face, the only way you do that is by taking down barriers, not by building them up.”
Important role
Lord Green agreed that the Chartered Institute “has never been more important than it is now”, saying that “productivity in this country depends on goods exports”.
“There’s ample evidence that companies that export become more productive, grow faster, create more jobs and last longer than those that don’t,” he said.
Scuoler added that the Chartered Institute’s role is global in scope, saying “trade is a force for good” that creates “mutual dependencies, reducing geopolitical tensions and the risk of conflict”.
Representation
The event was also attended by several members of the institute, with one saying that they “greatly value the support and representation” the body offers.
“It’s great to be able to feed in our concerns to government through representatives like Anna Doherty on the Joint Customs Consultative Committee,” they said. “I hope the Chartered Institute continues with this going forwards.”
Forgione said that the institute will continue to work closely with the new government as part of its mission to “empower global trade”.
“The new government’s agenda for change is predicated on a full and fair collaboration between business and government,” he said.
“I look forward to exploring how the Chartered Institute can support the government, including the Department for Business and Trade, helping to create a landscape for compliant global international trade, spreading the benefits of trade to every entrepreneur and every nation.”
