Media & Press

Euler Hermes, the world leader in credit insurance solutions, announces three appointments in its Economic Research department.

As the COP 25 conference opens in Madrid, greenhouse gas emissions are still rising (+2.0% pa in2018) despite 1500 climate change laws enacted all over the world. Efforts need to be stepped up by a factor of five according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Higher uncertainty and higher global tariffs are taking a toll on trade: In 2019, the volume of global trade of goods and services should grow at its slowest pace in a decade (+1.5%). As a result, exporters are likely to see USD420bn in losses this year, according to Euler Hermes’ latest Global Trade report: “Trade Wars: May the Trade Force be with you in 2020 and beyond”.

Euler Hermes releases today the first edition of its proprietary “SMЕ Businеss Climаtе Index” (SMEB). It assesses the business environment for SMEs in 13 selected economies: the U.S., Canada, Germany, France, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hong Kong, Singapore.

Findings of the research, based on a survey of more than 2,300 SMEs in 13 countries across Asia, Europe and North America, show that two-fifths of businesses (42%) believe rising costs and overheads are their greatest challenge. Government regulation (36%) and cashflow (32%) were also cited in the top three concerns in 2019.