ITFA Emerging Leader Annual Competition 2023

A kind reminder that the 2023 edition of the ITFA Emerging Leader competition is now in full swing! This has quickly become the “Oscars” of trade finance… and this year we are delighted to have GTR as our official Media Partner for the Award!

The main goal of this initiative is to allow Emerging Leaders in trade finance to showcase their ability to add value to the industry as we have certainly achieved the last couple of years. The Hall of Fame currently stands as follows:

We caught up with Parth-Mahesh Damani, winner of the 2022 Emerging Leader competition with his work on ““Improving UK’s Balance of Payments by Increasing Trade Finance opportunities for SME businesses.” Here are a few words he had to say about his experience!

I had a fabulous time at the event and got to meet a lot of interesting individuals from across the globe. It was an eye-opening experience to go from learning about trade finance in a classroom to speaking publicly about the need for and importance of it in front of hundreds of professionals from the industry. It opened numerous doors and even helped me land my first ever job – at a Metals trading firm as a Junior Trader. The knowledge and learnings I gained from the conference helped me greatly in a professional setting when speaking to clients and colleagues about viable business opportunities. Moreover, working for a relatively small trading house further highlighted the dire need for relevant financing to manage the company’s working capital cycle while also providing the right opportunities to grow and expand into different regions. Personally, the conference helped me build a lot of confidence and brought out a more curious side of me which I don’t think I had seen before. I even attended the GTR conference in Dubai recently (part of which was organized by ITFA!!), where I got the chance to see few familiar faces from my trip to Porto. All in all, it was a life changing experience and surely something that I will keep with me for a long time (including the Emerging Trade financier award)!!

The attached guide explains how to participate and all the rules of the competition, as well as practical information. 

The three shortlisted submissions will receive a free pass for the ITFA Conference taking place between 11 to 13 October in Abu Dhabi. This free pass will include full conference participation as well as entry into all social events taking place during the conference, including the Gala Dinner.

The winner is awarded the 2023 ITFA Emerging Trade Financier Award and will have the winning project published by ITFA.

We truly look forward to this year’s competition surpassing the great successes of 2021 and 2022 so please do consider making a submission and share this email with as many people as possible! 

May the best Emerging Trade Financier win!

Kind regards,
ITFA Emerging Leaders Committee