International trade, like most of economic sectors is amid a process of constant change as a result of the recent digital disruptions. With the recent appearance of blockchain technology, artificial intelligence and automation, the sector is advancing by leaps and bounds along a path of constant innovation aimed at consolidating more effective processes and lower transaction costs.  

Following, DEPCO Logistics provides a brief description of what is expected to be some of the main advances that would take place in the sector as a product of the application of new technologies:

• Intelligent contracts: thanks to blockchain it is now possible to perfect contracts for the international sale and purchase of goods in which the terms can be determined between the parties without the need for an intermediary, a central authority or an additional compliance mechanism.

• International payments and collections: thanks to blockchain it is also possible to speed up the electronic submission of documents in a substantial way without having to resort to the use of the SWIFT system. Recent experiments in the financial sector show that it is possible to simplify processes that took days in a matter of just a couple of hours.

• Tenders: a blockchain-based platform was recently implemented in which private companies bid and handled the related paperwork much more easily than the mechanisms currently used.

• Arbitration: recent evidence indicates the blockchain has great possibilities of being applied to carry out arbitration procedures in commercial disputes as a mechanism of verification of documents.

Finally, in a panel on technological developments of last generation and their impact on international trade, the commercial director of Lufthansa indicated that in a period of 20 to 30 years about 70% of transactions taking place today in the world of logistics could be automated using robotics or artificial intelligence in such a way that much of the great web of communications that today take place through the different levels of the logistic service chain and its related negotiations could get in the past. According to the officer this could save the logistics chain costs between USD1 bn and USD2bn per year.