Join Alex Gray, Director of Trade and Transaction Banking at LIBF, as he reflects on a packed week at three major Singapore trade conferences. Alex shares why being present at events like the GTR Global Trade Review, the ICC Banking Commission, and the ITFA AGM matters for the trade banking community, and how building genuine connections – both old and new – enables progress that remote meetings just can’t match. With observations on networking, industry pressures, and why LIBF’s support for professionals is rooted in real-world experience, this is a candid take on conference life you won’t want to miss.
Watch the interview or read it below.
You attended some trade conferences in Singapore, which ones?
"It was an ideal opportunity, three events were there in one week, there was the GTR Global Trade Review, an annual Asia meeting, then there was the ICC Banking Commission meeting, followed up by the ITFA International Trade and Forfaiting Association, annual general meeting."
Why is it important to attends events like these?
"It's important for us to be at these events because we're getting involved. It really emphasises the fact that we at LIBF are trade transaction practitioners who have worked in that environment, we're networking with people we've met before, but we're also making new contacts from introductions. In LIBF, we do a lot of video calls through the year, but there's nothing beats face-to-face meetings because you're having a meeting with somebody and somebody thinks, "Oh, I should introduce you to somebody else." They're literally there and that happened with ITFA we were discussing some education piece and then somebody said, "oh, there's so and so," brought them over, and we were able to make so much progress that when we came back, we already had a subsequent meeting, but it was already engaged, we knew where we had to go. There's nothing beats all that interaction. It handles issues very quickly."
Elevate your trade finance career with us today.
Learn around your commitments
Learn skills you could use immediately
Can you tell us about the conference session you moderated?
"I moderated a session on tech interoperability. It's a major issue, has been for many years. The first session I ever did for GTR five years ago in Mumbai, that was the word interoperability, was there, not an easy word to say, and then five years later, it's still an issue. But obviously there's a lot has happened over the COVID period, tech has moved on, but the systems are not always working so easily together and that was really what we were talking about, and also great questions from the floor. So that interaction, you might have people being able to type in a question, but when they're there in the room makes a big difference."
How does LIBF's attendance at events like these benefit our learners and partners?
"LIBF started in 1879 and had always been there to support bankers with furthering their careers. We've always had people in these roles at LIBF who come from the industry and by attending these events that emphasises that. But we're also speaking to people, understanding trends, potentially new qualifications we could be doing, understanding the various pressures that people are under. Because when people are trying to do these qualifications, they are doing it in conjunction with their daily work, and that puts on a lot of pressure.
So understanding about that, trying to support them. One of the things I really advocate is people getting study leave. People say, "Oh, I have to speak to HR," I don't think you have to speak to HR. You're the boss. You can just come into the office and you can give them study leave in the office."
What services can we provide that businesses often don't know about?
"Working directly with banks, some of the things that we can do is if they have a cohort of people doing the qualification, we can provide them data as to whether people are actually getting through the courses, whether they may be stuck on certain aspects.
We can also feedback about whether they've, booked an exam, when they're gonna sit the exam and whether they passed. That's all for the B2B side. We can do a lot of analysis there to provide them. I don't think everybody's aware of that, but it's something that we can provide."
If potential partners can't attend these events, what should they do?
"It is great to be at these events, but not everybody can attend them. So I would say to people that are not able to go to these things, reach out to us and we can discuss what we're doing with other banks and maybe we can emulate some of that. Or maybe you've got some ideas of what we can do to support you. So feel free to reach out. You might be coming to London. Come and pop in and say hello."
By working with industry leaders, we create career-focused pathways that help professionals grow in trade and transaction banking.
Find out more about partnering with us today.
Partnerships