{"id":40905,"date":"2026-07-17T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T07:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eximbanka.sk\/?p=40905"},"modified":"2026-10-08T13:50:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:50:59","slug":"commerce-has-become-a-weapon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eximbanka.sk\/en\/commerce-has-become-a-weapon\/","title":{"rendered":"Commerce has become a weapon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eximbanka CEO Rastislav Podhorec<\/a>, in a commentary for Hospod\u00e1rske noviny<\/a>, on the misuse of international trade as a tool of coercion between states in the pursuit of their own geopolitical interests.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

When some 250 representatives of export credit agencies, banks, insurance companies, and multilateral financial institutions gathered in Astana, Kazakhstan, for the spring meeting of the Berne Union<\/a>, the main topic was not just export growth and new business opportunities. The discussion also focused on something much more fundamental\u2014how to finance and insure international trade in a world that is becoming less predictable and more geopolitically divided. <\/p>\n\n

That is precisely why the remarks by British economist Rebecca Harding resonated so strongly. Several years ago, she began speaking about the phenomenon of the \u201cweaponization of trade\u201d\u2014the misuse of international trade as a tool of coercion between states. At a time when debates about globalization and free trade still dominated the discourse, this sounded like an academic musing to many. Today, it is clear that it was an accurate description of reality. <\/p>\n\n

Sanctions, tariffs, export controls, technology restrictions, and the struggle for control over strategic supply chains have become a common feature of international relations. Trade is no longer just an economic discipline. It has become a tool for advancing geopolitical interests.For export credit agencies, this is a fundamental change. Our role is to help companies manage the risks involved in entering foreign markets. Harding, however, pointed out an important distinction between risk and uncertainty. We can assess and evaluate risk. Uncertainty arises when we do not know the rules of the game or the probability of future developments. And it is precisely this uncertainty that is on the rise in today\u2019s global economy. <\/p>\n\n

The discussions in Astana were not limited to conflicts, however. Significant attention was also given to technology, digital currencies, new payment systems, and the question of what the future architecture of international trade will look like. It is no coincidence that these debates took place in Kazakhstan. Central Asia is gradually becoming a key link between Europe and Asia, as well as a region where the economic interests of several global players converge. <\/p>\n\n

The most powerful message, however, came at the end. Harding recalled the well-known experiment with a basketball and a gorilla, which most people fail to notice because they\u2019re focused on something else. Her message was clear: we all see inflation, interest rates, and short-term market fluctuations, but we often overlook the major structural changes that are transforming the way the global economy works. It is precisely these changes that will determine what international trade will look like in the coming decades. And that is exactly why we should not overlook them here in Slovakia either. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eximbanka CEO Rastislav Podhorec, in a commentary for Hospod\u00e1rske noviny, on the misuse of international trade as a tool of coercion between states in the pursuit of their own geopolitical interests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":40903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[171,170],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-press-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eximbanka.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eximbanka.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eximbanka.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eximbanka.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eximbanka.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40905"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eximbanka.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40906,"href":"https:\/\/eximbanka.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40905\/revisions\/40906"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eximbanka.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eximbanka.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eximbanka.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eximbanka.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}