Webinar and client event on the results of the ninth Export Barometer

During its first hybrid webinar on 20 June, Credendo commented on the results of the ninth Export Barometer, organised in collaboration with Trends/Trends-Tendances. 80 clients were present at the event in Brussels, while 150 people attended the live webinar.

Optimism is on the rise

Ineke Uyttersprot of Roularta Media Group and Nabil Jijakli, Deputy CEO at Credendo, presented the findings of the yearly survey, which collected opinions from more than 1,000 companies across a wide spectrum of sectors.

The results showed that business optimism is gently rising, despite increasing production costs and the growing number of sources of tension and risks, particularly on the geopolitical front. The confidence indicator has risen from 5.9 in 2023 to 6.1 this year, the second highest figure since the Barometer was launched. Belgian businesses feel the impact of an increasingly uncertain world but show a strong resilience and adapt in the light of successive crises.

Following these results, Nabil Jijakli reported on the important renewed ambitions of Belgian companies to export further afield, and the positive observation that more and more exporting companies are turning to insurance solutions. 100% advance payment, bank guarantees and credit insurance are the most commonly used protections.

Analysing the global risk context

Pascaline della Faille, Country and Sector Risk Manager at Credendo, and Raphaël Cecchi, Senior Country and Sector Risk Analyst at Credendo, discussed the current macroeconomic developments and the two main factors that are shaping the world economy:

• the move towards a new more chaotic world order;
• intensifying climate change and its consequences in terms of physical and transition risks.

Pascaline della Faille confirmed the slight improvement of global economic momentum but also pointed out the persisting uncertainty and rising protectionism. Raphaël Cecchi explained the potential global impacts of Chinese industrial overcapacities and the risks related to the intensification of climate changes as the speed and scale to curb CO2 emissions remain inadequate.

Spreading the risk

Finally, we all had the opportunity to learn how family-owned company Vyncke, which delivers tailor-made energy solutions in the field of combustion technology, looks at export risks. Elke Toye, CFO at Vyncke, and Marijke De Pauw, Trade Finance Expert at Vyncke, told us they follow geopolitics very closely and take these risks into consideration when making decisions. The company is very selective about the projects it takes on and spreads its risks. That way, it does not only depend on the European market. Vyncke aims to explore the world and looks outside of Europe, where no less than 44% of its turnover lies.

Read the full Export Barometer here and the main takeaways here.

This exclusive event led clearly to an afternoon full of new knowledge and contacts with lots of networking opportunities. Discovermore about it in a summarising video: