Working Together to Help Businesses Reach Attractive Destination Markets: FIATA and GTH

As companies gear up to negotiate deals with buyers and explore new market opportunities, one question quickly becomes decisive: can they get their goods to customers in the most suitable and affordable way? For exporters, especially smaller ones, logistics is more than a back-office function. It can determine whether an order is profitable, whether delivery deadlines are met, and whether a firm can compete on price and reliability in new destinations.

Transport costs and logistics are often among the largest and least predictable components of cross-border trade, typically representing 10–25% of total supply chain expenses for small exporting businesses. When margins are thin, a small shift in freight rates, routing, paperwork delays, or last-mile delivery can erase profits or jeopardise a buyer’s confidence. That is why efficient logistics management is not just an operational task for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but a strategic tool: it helps maintain competitive pricing, ensures timely delivery, reduces risk, and lowers barriers to international market entry.

To make this challenge easier to tackle, FIATA has entered into a new partnership with the Global Trade Helpdesk (GTH). Through this collaboration, businesses can now connect with thousands of additional freight forwarders across more than 150 markets, helping exporters identify competitive logistics services that match their specific needs.

Freight forwarder information has been integrated directly into the Global Trade Helpdesk, strengthening the platform’s logistics component and improving access to more reliable service provider data. Using this multi-agency global platform, firms can assess economic attractiveness, evaluate market entry costs and regulations, identify niche markets and digital trade opportunities, and connect with key partners.

The Global Trade Helpdesk brings together information from 11 agencies and private-sector partners into a single search experience. It is available in eight languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Indonesian Bahasa, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish, making it easier for businesses in diverse markets to access the insights they need to plan and execute exports.

“Building on timely trade intelligence from the ITC Market Analysis tools, this practical data on freight forwarders is a strong complement towards firms putting their data-driven export strategies into action,” said Julia Spies, Chief of Trade and Market Intelligence at ITC.

Dr Stéphane Graber, Director General of FIATA, added: “Reliable logistics is central to turning trade potential into real commercial results. By integrating the international freight forwarding community into the Global Trade Helpdesk, we are helping small and medium-sized enterprises move from identifying opportunities to delivering on them, with greater transparency, stronger partnerships, and improved access to global markets. This significantly enhances the visibility and value of professional trusted freight forwarders worldwide.”

By pairing market intelligence with practical logistics connections, the platform helps SMEs move from opportunity to action with greater confidence.