The Digitalization of the letter of credit in Support of the Development of International Trade

Abstract

Our world is both ancient and young, disordered, and complex; it is globalized and interconnected. It is currently seeking new paths and rules of conduct, aiming to build new balances on all levels — geopolitical as well as geoeconomic.

To the question of understanding where international trade is heading, my answer would be: through reading — a deep and thoughtful reading of international political and socio-economic life, in order to detect real ruptures, major evolutions, and thus continue the story.

In the 4th millennium, the Sumerian city between the Tigris and Euphrates was organized as a state around four main actors: the people (founders of the city), the priest (the religious authority), the prince (the political leader), and the merchant (homo economicus).

The merchant, driven by personal interest and enrichment through trade both inside and outside the city, within the country and empire, and even among distant, cross-border peoples, necessarily adopted commercial ethics and values-conciliation, compromise-seeking, patience, and flexibility-which gave him a certain power known as commercial power. In essence, this merchant held strong relational and operational skills: know-how and well-being.

Economic globalization, supported by political will, is synonymous with open economies, massive flows of goods, and the development of globalized trade across a worldwide transactional space. The key success factors of globalization include successive rounds of GATT negotiations, reduction of customs duties, creation of the World Trade Organization, development of regional trade agreements, multiplication of free trade zones, global presence of multinational corporations, globalization of financial markets, explosive growth, in both substance and form, of conventional and especially containerized maritime transport.

Maritime transport plays a key role in the interconnection of continents, countries, and economies, on a planetary scale, with an ever-greater variety and volume of goods. Over 90% of international trade is carried out by sea-around 11 billion tonnes in 2022 compared to 550 million tonnes in 1950.

The widespread deployment of global value chains was made possible thanks to maritime transport, which effectively reorganized the global productive and commercial R&D landscape.

World history has witnessed successive national currencies gaining international status due to the power and dominance of their issuing countries' economies, seen as commercial, cultural, and economic centers attracting the world's wealth.

The general context of the theme provides a clear idea of the underlying assumptions of international trade. The internationalization of economies and financial globalization-characterized by increasing intra-group trade and significant reshoring investments-have changed the nature of trade, giving businesses broader access to global markets and enabling the sale of goods and services in greater quantities.

The remoteness of clients, cultural diversity, currency and political variety, multiple risk-sharing procedures, and diverse international regulations all increase the complexity of sales and the risk of costly disputes between importers and exporters. This context requires simplification and facilitation through the digitization and digitalization of operational processes and financial and documentary flows, with risk management across the entire international trade value chain.

Developing tools to promote digitalization in international trade and economic relations is an urgent necessity, considering the rising risks, procedural complexity, partner remoteness, regulatory diversity, the fragility of certain policies, and the stubbornness or even obstinacy of stakeholders when it comes to interpreting texts in terms of compliance, consistency, and completeness of documents representing goods, products, and services.

The introduction of digital technologies and artificial intelligence in international trade must be a continuously growing process, covering the entire value chain of trusted third parties in the global operation process, along with periodic reviews of regulations in harmony with the technological environment and trade practices between countries-considering their discontinuity and upheavals.

Keywords: Globalization, International Trade, Maritime Transport, International Currency, Digitalization, letter of Credit, Artificial Intelligence, Blo

Received Date: December 20, 2025

Accepted Date: January 12, 2026

Published Date: February 01, 2026

Available Online at: https://www.ijsrisjournal.com/index.php/ojsfiles/article/view/585