Kati Suominen discusses the interplay of COVID-19, new technologies and trade patterns, including a trend towards more distributed manufacturing, closer to the end consumer, enabled by 3D printing. She identifies that the current experience where 3D printing is being utilized to produce ventilators and other medical essentials will help to entrench the use and acceptance of that capability, driving greater utilization post-COVID for other consumer goods and industrial parts.

Kati discusses the potential for increased digital services trade, enabled by the current trends of teleworking and companies’ increased investments in the digitalization of their services. She also highlights the challenges facing small and medium enterprises, currently suffering where ports have become clogged, and needing help to digitalize their businesses.

We also discuss some other major trends that will emerge from the COVID predicament, including where it is an accelerant for Artificial Intelligence, eCommerce, cashless economy and drone delivery vehicles, and concurrently where it fast-tracks some companies’ existing efforts to diversify their supply chain dependencies away from China.