Our Users Association, the DDG, held its first Sinapore-based Workgroup meeting earlier this month, aimed at supporting and accelerating the adoption of eDocs and eTrade Finance across the Metals, Agri and Banking sectors in Singapore and Hong Kong.

The event took place at the Amara Hotel, located in the city’s Central Business District, and was attended by over 130 delegates hailing from the major Mining companies, Metals Traders, Agri Traders and leading regional and global Banking Groups.

The session kicked off with a briefing on CargoDocs uptake by essDOCS CEO, Alexander Goulandris, who presented recent metrics on eDocs expansion & growth in key target geographies and commodity markets, also providing a breakdown of upcoming essDOCS projects and solutions.

The briefing was followed by two industry panel discussions, both moderated by our VP Asia Pacific, Bevan Davies, providing a unique opportunity for Users to share across the audience their own experiences with paperless trade.

The first session focused on the practical aspects of eDoc Implementation, namely the hurdles, solutions and benefits as experienced and shared by an esteemed panel of delegates from Bunge, Vale, Westpac and Mizuho.

The second panel discussion was exclusively dedicated to combining eDocs with eTrade Finance, featuring insights and Users stories from guest panelists hailing from Cargill, Rio Tinto and Standard Chartered Bank.

The panel sessions were followed by a Q&A session addressing various key points surrounding paperless trade – from eDocs acceptance by local Customs Authorities and ports, to details on system security, how CargoDocs works in practice and how quickly key parties such as new vessels can be onboarded.

The DDG holds several events throughout the year, with more workshops added on a regular basis. Upcoming events include:

• DDG Shanghai Workgroup Meeting – 21 April 2016
• DDG Tokyo Workgroup Meeting – slated for end Q2 2016

Check out the Video highlights from the recent DDG Singapore session below, featuring key insights from guest panelists on their ongoing journey to paperless trade: