Why Understanding International Trade is More Important than Ever?

COVID-19 has undoubtedly posed one of the greatest challenges the humanity has faced in decades. As this health crisis unfolds and rapidly triggers a deep economic crisis, world GDP is expected to drop by 2.1% according to World Bank estimates, and trade is forecasted to decrease between 13% and 32% as indicated by the World Trade Organization (WTO). COVID-19 is therefore expected to cause shocks in worldwide employment, trade costs, tourism and consumption of certain services entailing human contact. The lack of a coordinated response by countries to deal with the situation places us in a great uncertainty scenario, moreover if the associated risks are not managed timely, thus leading to a situation where a vast majority of individuals and companies will struggle to survive.

This is the context that the first-ever cohort of the Executive Master in International Trade is facing as they kicked off their studies in early March 2020, which represents a perfect opportunity to test their leadership skills in a world that will struggle to overcome new challenges in the years to come. In the Opening Ceremony, which took place online on the 16 March 2020 due to coronavirus outbreak, the Chief Economist of the International Trade Centre (ITC), Dr. Marion Jansen, echoed this view. “This master prepares a new generation of leaders who are ready to take bold and wise decisions on complex matters in difficult times, and to do so under very strict time constraints.” Moreover, she added.

“Those who have embarked on this new program should see themselves, not as students, but as people who will have to take important decisions in this new world in the coming months and in the coming years. It will depend on you whether this world is going to look better or even worse than before the crisis.”

Dr. Jansen

21 students from 19 nationalities have taken the challenge to embark in very specialized training on international trade and business internationalization under a unique higher education experience. This program combines live video conferences and interactive forums with week-long face-to-face sessions in Geneva and Madrid. Even if the program was meant to start with a face-to-face period in Madrid, IE’s leadership as a powerful hub for online training has allowed a swift adaptability of the entire institution to online training, even its full-time face-to-face programs.

Executive Director for Masters at IE School of Global and Public Affairs, Mrs. Marie Gedeon stated, “The different IE departments have worked tirelessly to ensure that within just a matter of days the entire institution shifted to online education. This is only possible if the right technology and teams nurture each other while engaging in an instant and effective transformative journey. And IE, with its 20 years of experience in online education, has made it possible.”

The Executive Master in International Trade is a pioneering program bringing together two conglomerates that rarely meet into training rooms for fruitful discussion and mutual understanding: economic regulators and policymakers on the one hand, and trade operators, on the other hand.

“You will be among the first generation of experts that look at both the business side, and the policymaker side and the technical side together. You will hopefully be able to make wiser decisions, better-prepared decisions than your predecessors.”

Dr. Jansen in the Opening Ceremony

“We are wholeheartedly thankful to our partners, the International Trade Centre (ITC), the International Chamber of Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), whom together with our lecturers, we were able to reach a unique mix of subjects whose aim is to provide students with the tools to navigate comfortably around trade- and finance-related policies, regulations and operations” said Mrs. Susana Malcorra, Dean of IE School of Global and Public Affairs.

Participants will further their exposure and expertise in standards and regulation, trade finance, international trade policy, value chains, operations management, contracts and dispute resolution, Agenda 2030, among others. They will also build solid pillars to the benefit of their professional careers beyond technical matters, as they will also revamp their skills on negotiations, impact writing and presentation, and leadership. This dual compound will undoubtedly help participants thrive in the current increasingly demanding world.