Through trade to prosperity

With our sustainability program GoTrade, we have made it our mission to support developing countries and their small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in accessing the global market. In line with our company purpose to connect people and improve lives, GoTrade is about expanding the reach and benefits of globalization.

Cross-border trade creates prosperity, improves life and connects people, but there are still major obstacles in many regions. Some countries and communities still do not participate as strongly in international trade as they could. A common problem in developing countries is inefficient import and export processes and unnecessary hurdles for businesses wanting to access global markets. Trade barriers, such as bureaucratic, non-transparent - and thus often corruption-prone - Customs procedures, hit developing countries particularly hard and make it more difficult for them to access world trade. This hinders the flow of goods and business growth, especially for SMEs, whose success is so critical to achieving sustainable economic growth and broad-based prosperity in these countries.

As part of our sustainability program GoTrade, we are working determinedly with public sector partners such as national governments and international organizations to remove these hurdles. Merchants who previously sold their goods regionally get access to customers around the world. We leverage our core logistics competencies and know-how to help countries implement best-in-class policies and procedures at the border, help speed up Customs clearance and reduce the costs of cross-border trade. At the same time, we are training SMEs to be able to increase cross-border trade. 

GoTrade is aimed primarily at developing countries that have not yet benefited as much as others have from globalization. In doing so, DHL Group is making an important contribution to achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Our approach with GoTrade is to match the Group's strengths with priority global needs, and to work with leading international organizations and national governments, for example with UNCTAD, UNDP, International Trade Center, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), just to name a few, so that our resources are channeled for maximum effectiveness.

Additionally, we are working together with UNDP, UN Global Compact and ICC as well as with strategic partners Microsoft and PwC in the Global Facility, an initiative to address the negative impacts of the coronavirus and to help SMEs recover better together. We envision a world in which COVID-19 recovery forms the basis for the emergence of sustainable, resilient societies. Find out how we are helping to support transformational recovery: https://www.unglobalfacility.org