The pandemic provoked changes in global trade and encouraged many Russian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to export their products. Veronika Nikishina, head of the Russian Export Center (REC), said at the Gaidar Forum.

NEW REALITY

Nikishina pointed out that the situation in the world favors export development. "The global economy is recovering at an even greater pace than previously forecast. The growth of global trade is expected to be 10%, which suggests that it will win back the fall of 2020 and partially compensate for the stagnation of 2019. There are cautious expectations that it will enter growth this year. Russia's non-energy and non-resource exports have also caught up with and surpassed the level of 2019," said the head of the REC.

According to her, now we can identify three main markers that will determine the shape of global trade in the future.

"The first is a reduction in the share of long-term contracts and an increase in the share of short-term contracts, largely due to almost daily price volatility. The second is an increase in demand for direct contracts, a reduction in the role of distributors, which increases the competence and workload of exporters on tasks, on finding buyers, on markets. Third - for the first time in the history of sustainable development we see a global sustained interest in decarbonizing our own production chains, which comes from business," said Nikishina.

TO RESPOND TO THE CHALLENGES

According to the head of the REC, today the vast majority of Russian exporters are responsible entrepreneurs, who are focused on long-term business, and in their strategy and decision-making they are guided by the trends they see in their target markets.

In most industries, the real answer to change has been to work through online commerce, she said. "For small and medium-sized companies, this new reality has become an opportunity to enter export markets. We saw many Russian entrepreneurs who took advantage of this opportunity and became exporters, even though they had not thought of this activity before," Nikishina said.

She assured that the Russian export support ecosystem is trying to respond promptly to both the needs and opportunities of domestic entrepreneurs.

"We have increased our service offerings to support and engage entrepreneurs from large to SMEs in e-commerce. From detailed navigation of suitable marketplaces to co-funding the opening of our own stores for exporters," she said.

In addition, responding to the new challenges of decarbonization, the REC plans to develop new programs to support the green transition in Russian exports in 2022. "We will start with advisory services and inclusion of relevant materials in REC Group's educational products, and then we plan to approach the government and start working on financial support measures as well," she concluded.

Made in Russia // Made in Russia

Author: Maria Buzanakova