ECONOMIC DEVELOPERS

Turn here first to reach out to the right economic development teams in these states, provinces, metros and countries.

ADVERTISEMENT

Graphic courtesy of UNCTAD

UNCTAD’s latest Global Trade Update reports that after the downturn in the second half of 2022, world merchandise trade rebounded in both volume and value during Q1 2023. “Over the last five quarters, the geographical proximity of international trade remained relatively stable, suggesting a lack of significant nearshoring or farshoring trends, at least on average,” states the report, noting that “friend-shoring” has been on the rise since late 2022, characterized by a reorientation of bilateral trade flows to prioritize countries that share similar political values.“The war in Ukraine, the decoupling of the United States-China trade interdependence and the consequences of Brexit have played a significant role in shaping key bilateral trade trends during this period,” the report says. “Concurrently, there has been a decline in diversification of trade partners, implying that global trade has become more concentrated among major trade relationships,” the report notes.”

ADVERTISEMENT

This photo was made on June 6, 2023, at Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB) in Saudi Arabia. Members of the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing of the United States Air Force (USAF) rode camels and took part in Saudi culture in response to the Royal Saudi Air Force’s inviting hospitality. This experience and sharing of culture were “meant to help them form a better connection with the region, people and culture,” according to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. PSAB is an active USAF Air Expeditionary Base operating in Saudi Arabia and assigned to the U.S. Air Forces Central Command.