The Ministry of the Economy will host a Sustainable Trade Forum on December 4 during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), in Dubai’s Expo City. The event has been designed to bring together leaders from the private sector to explore opportunities surrounding sustainable, inclusive supply chains and the contribution the global business community can make towards a more agile and climate-friendly economy. 
The Sustainable Trade Forum will feature as part of COP28’s International Trade Day – marking the first time ‘trade’ as a concept, has featured as an official day at a COP meeting. Geared around delivering practical, action-oriented solutions, speakers from major global and domestic companies and other expert stakeholders will explore sectors integral to the future of global trade – and help confirm the UAE’s role as a champion of trade modernization ahead of the World Trade Organisation’s 13th Council of Ministers (MC13) in Abu Dhabi in February 2024. 

Hosted in the Blue Zone at COP28, the forum comprises two distinct sessions tackling critical themes. The first will cover: ‘Strengthening Sustainable Supply Chain Resilience: Navigating Global Disruption, and the second will address the topic of Fostering Green Entrepreneurship: Nurturing a Sustainability-led Startup Ecosystem. The sessions will take place from 12.30-2.00pm on December 4th.
 
The forum is being held in partnership with global fintech firm Capital.com, one of Europe’s fastest growing investment-trading platforms, and leading Vietnamese electric car manufacturer, Vinfast. 

HE Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi said: “This is an opportunity to drive new understanding and share critical insights on the intersection of business and trade, but it’s also designed to drive real-world, bold climate action. The sessions have been designed to explore the groundbreaking innovations and strategies that will shape the future of sustainable, digitally enabled global trade, to inspire the global community to consider measures that can fast-track our transition to a climate-friendly economy, and also, to signal to the world that we are committed to forging a more sustainable and greener business landscape. Alongside the official UNFCCC thematic activities, our TradeTech partnership with WEF, and our hosting of MC13 next year, this event can be a key part of the global push to modernize and disrupt the global trading system.”
Viktor Prokopenya, Founder of Capital.com, said: “This is a vital contribution to a critical debate. Trade is the lifeblood of the global economy – from transportation and complex physical supply chains through to ecommerce. Technology has the power to bring about rapid change, and it is essential that we invest in the technologies needed to boost supply-chain efficiencies, accelerate cross-border processes and reduce the impact of trade on climate change. There is great scope to drive real impact here.”
Lê Thị Thu Thuỷ, Global CEO of VinFast, said: “As a leading and fast-growing manufacturer of innovative electric vehicles with an international footprint, we look forward to participating in critical discussions on the future of the global trade system and to providing our perspective on how to ensure it creates more inclusive, expansive and most importantly sustainable supply chains that safeguard our long term future and that of our planet.”