Trade facilitation demands a broad skillset. Often, it is about understanding stakeholder requirements, defining the underlying problems, and evaluating the possibilities that trade facilitation type ideas can offer. Sometimes, it is about substantiating those possibilities with further research or lending assistance through mentoring and training.

The implementation of trade facilitation is at once an economic, administrative, operational, legal, technological, and political challenge. Research plays an important role in making sure that project stakeholders are able to make informed decisions. Dr Andrew Grainger is often relied upon to provide such studies – be it to support specific project objectives, develop business cases, or to help advance the field within an academic setting.

Knowledge is a prerequisite to making informed decisions. Trade facilitation demands robust expertise in a wide range of topics, including the legal, the operational, the political, and the technological. Dr Andrew Grainger is an experienced educator and has produced a wide range of teaching materials that have been tried and tested at some of the world’s leading universities. Much of his work also has a strong mentoring and knowledge transfer component.

We have extensive experience in providing steadfast support in the implementation of trade facilitation solutions – including: single window implementations, information portal implementations, vision statements, online training solutions, and more. Much of the work is focused on specific aspects of trade facilitation, including initiatives to:

• simplify and harmonise the applicable trade and customs procedures
• modernise existing trade compliance systems
• improve on administrative practices
• develop supporting institutional mechanisms; and
• measure performance and hold governing institutions accountable.