ICIEC and APCIORP Sign a Documentary Credit Insurance Policy

In Bahrain, ICIEC and Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), the Multilateral Development Bank owned by the ten member nations of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), has signed a Documentary Credit Insurance Policy (DCIP).

The Documentary Credit Insurance Policy will help APICORP effectively manage risks affecting its Letter of Credit (LC) transactions and LCs of petroleum products exports in ICIEC member countries. The DCIP is an effective tool to mitigate risk of non-payment of Letter of Credit (LC) arising from a variety of factors. These include insolvency of the buyer/ issuing bank; failure or refusal of the issuing bank to provide reimbursement on due date; currency inconvertibility and transfer restrictions imposed by issuing bank's country; expropriation, confiscation or government intervention in the business of the issuing bank; and war or civil disturbance in the issuing bank's country. The DCIP provides insurance coverage to transactions in which a minimum of 30% of the added value in the products transacted come from ICIEC member states.

Ahmad Bin Hamad Al-Nuaimi, Chief Executive and General Manager of APICORP said: “We are extremely happy to advance our cooperation with the IDB’s ICIEC by signing the DCIP. Trade finance forms an important focus of our diversification strategy and contributes significantly to our mandate to support Arab energy industry development. The DCIP will help us reliably protect and control risks in trade finance transactions, which in turn will help us better support the trading needs of Arab energy companies and enhance our trade-finance business growth. The ICIEC’s extensive geographical remit and its mandate to encourage exports from member countries, some of whom are our own shareholders, make it a highly strategic partner for us. Partnerships like these are key to our ability to expand our trade finance business and create value and growth for energy companies in the region.”

At the signing ceremony, Dr Abdel-Rahman El-Tayeb Taha the Chief Executive Officer of ICIEC stated: "Events in the region show clearly the important role Credit and Political Risk Insurance can play in supporting trade and attracting foreign investment into countries which need it the most. We are confident that the signed policy will help APICORP in mitigating risks related to the default and non-payment of Letters of Credit confirmed by APICORP and thereby help to expand their trade transactions and ultimately increase exports from member countries.” Dr. Taha added: “This signed DCIP between ICIEC and APIRCORP is the first signed between ICIEC and a joint Arab Financial Institution and represents a beneficial alliance between two sister multilateral institutions.”

It is worth mentioning that APICORP offers a range of trade finance solutions for import and export transactions designed to meet the challenging needs of energy companies in the Arab world. APICORP has rapidly grown its trade finance and structured commodity finance activities over the last three years complementing its historically strong project finance franchise. Trade and structured commodity finance services and loans provided by APICORP in 2013 helped finance hydrocarbon transactions involving the world’s largest hydrocarbon commodity traders transacting with Arab-based refiners. 

The Republic of Mozambique has recently acceded to the membership of ICIEC. This brings the number of member countries to 41, and several other members countries from Organization Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are in the process of completing the membership requirements.

Dr. Abdel Rahman El-Tayeb Taha, the Chief Executive Officer of ICIEC said “The Republic of Mozambique’s membership opens the door for its private and public sectors to benefit from risk mitigation services offered by ICIEC to expand their exports worldwide. Similarly, it allows exporters, banks and investors from other member and non-member countries, to cover risks related to their operations in Mozambique.”

“We seize this opportunity to invite exporters, banks and investors in all member countries, including those in Mozambique, to benefit from the services it offers for management of commercial and political risk” Dr. Taha added. 

ICIEC and the Jordan Loan Guarantee Corporation “JLGC” signed an Agency Agreement on October 6, 2013.

The Agreement was signed by Dr. Abdel-Rahman Taha the Chief Executive Officer of ICIEC and by Dr. Mohamad Al-Jafari the Director General of JLGC.

This Agreement enables JLGC to market ICIEC Shariah compliant export credit insurance products to the exporters, banks and investors operating in Jordan.

Commenting on the Agreement, Dr. Taha, the CEO of ICIEC said “The signing of this Agreement with JLGC comes within the framework of consolidating the role of the Corporation as a strategic partner to the Export Credit Agencies of ICIEC member countries and the contribution in strengthening their capacity to increase the volume of national exports and attracting investments.

He added, “We are looking forward to activate the Agreement as soon as possible starting by training the involved staff and jointly marketing ICIEC’s products in Jordan”.

Dr. Al-Jafari, the Director General of JLGC said, “This Agreement will enable the corporation to expand its range of services provided directly to the Jordanians exporters, and for the first time it will allow the corporation to provide a Documentary Credit Insurance services for Letter of Credit issued by Jordanian banks in favor of foreign banks, which will help these banks to strengthen credit ceilings for Jordanian exporters and also enable them to export to the new markets”.
 

About JLGC

The JLGC was established in 1994 as a public shareholding company to enhance sustainable economic growth in Jordan through improving the credit environment available to the economically viable small and medium sized enterprises and national exports by providing them with credit and loan guarantees. 

On the sidelines of the Investment Forum in Tunisia:

ITAP and FIPA signs a cooperation Agreement

ICIEC in its capacity as the manager of the IDB Group Investment Promotion Technical Assistance Program (ITAP), signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the sidelines of the New Tunisian Investment Forum held recently in Tunis with the Tunisian Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA).

The MOU was signed on behalf of ITAP by Dr. Abdel Rahman El-Tayeb, Taha, the Chief Executive Officer of ICIEC, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee of the IDB Group Investment Technical Assistance Program (ITAP), and signed on behalf of ITAP by Mr. Noureddine Zekri, the General Director of FIPA, Tunisia.

The purpose of this Memorandum is to provide a general framework to facilitate cooperation between the Parties in promoting and expanding foreign and domestic investments and trade in order to contribute to the effective economic and social development of the Member States..

Commenting on the MOU Dr Taha stated that “the signing of the MOU is part of IDB Group’s program managed by the ICIEC to build capacities of investment promotion agencies in member counties to enable them to achieve their objectives of creating an environment conducive to attracting investment and increasing inflow of foreign investments to these countries.

Dr. Taha added that, ‘Tunisia is rich in investment promotion experts and that the MOU will make their expertise accessible to similar institutions in other IDB member countries, particularly African members, in order to enhance the capacities of such institutions in all investment promotion related areas’.

Mr. Noureddine Zekri, the General Director of FIPA said that, ‘FIPA is pleased with the signing of the MOU, and that cooperation between the two institutions had taken root in recent years even before the signing of this MOU. The partnership under this document includes diverse areas of cooperation, particularly in relation to exchange of expertise and information and transfer of Tunisian experiments in the field of investment promotion in the framework of the activities conducted under the IDB Group ITAP. 

Dushanbe, Republic of Tajikistan,

The 20^th ICIEC’s Board of Governors Annual Meeting

ICIEC supports investments and exports in its member countries by more than USD 3 Billion in 2012

Under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Board of Governors of the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), member of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, approved in its 20th Annual Meeting, held today 22 May 2013 in Dushanbe, the Annual Report and the Financial Results for 1433H (2012).

1433H, a year of continued economic headwinds, globally as well as in ICIEC Member Countries, coupled with the prolonged unfolding political change in a number of member countries, the Corporation has continued to enhance the  support it provides for exports from and investments into our Member Countries. Despite these challenges, the Corporation’s Business Insured numbers remained strong at USD 3.07 billion, which is comparable to the business insured numbers achieved last year.

Commenting on these results, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of ICIEC, Khemais El-Gazzeh, said “1433H was a stand-out year for ICIEC’s Political Risk Insurance (PRI) program. Business  Insured under ICIEC’s PRI program stood at a record high of USD 825 million in 1433H (an increase of 167%) - a testament to the increased awareness of the importance of involving multilaterals like ICIEC in new investment programs. A significant part of this increase in the PRI numbers can also be attributed to the growing relationship ICIEC is building with the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency of the World Bank, which views ICIEC as a strategic reinsurance partner in its Member Countries”.

ICIEC, the Aa3 rated multilateral credit and country risks insurer is a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group. It was established in August 1994G as a specialized international institution with full juridical personality with an authorized capital of 400 million Islamic Dinars (around USD 620 million). The cumulative business insured by ICIEC, since its inception stood at US$ 16.39 billion. 

Recently, a delegation from London comprising of a group of Reinsurers (ACE, CV Starr, Chaucher, Catlin) and a Broker (RFIB) visited ICIEC and held a meeting with the Managements of ICIEC.

The visit aims to better understanding ICIEC business operations, and several general issues that were of interest to both Parties were discussed in the meeting.

The visit by the delegation from London not only provided the opportunity for both Parties to understand each other's operations better but also allowed exchange of technical information and knowhow that are beneficial to all Parties. The general consensus at the end of the meeting was that although the present level of cooperation between the two Parties is excellent, both Parties agreed that it can be increased to a higher level and in many other fields, such as technical assistance and cooperation.

Commenting on the visit, the CEO of ICIEC says Dr Abdel-Rahman Taha, said "I am satisfied with the meeting. It gives us the opportunity to inform the visitors more about ICIEC and reinforced their understanding of ICIEC's excellent underwriting operations. I hope the information shared will be taken into consideration favorably by the Reinsurers in analyzing future reinsurance requests from ICIEC, going forward."

In margin of the 3rd  Annual Meeting of Aman Union (a group of Arab and Islamic Export Credit Agencies) which is being held in Kuala Lumpur 21st  and 22nd  November 2012, ICIEC and the European insurer Garant Versicherungs-AG based both in Vienna and Geneva, signed a Cooperation Agreement to insure and reinsure trade and investments flows to and from Arab and Islamic Countries members of ICIEC.

The Agreement was signed by Dr. Abdel Rahman El-Tayeb Taha, the Chief Executive Officer of ICIEC and Mr. Louis Habib-Deloncle, Chairman of the Managing Board of Garant.

The agreement aims at exchanging information for the purpose of upgrading knowledge and expertise in the field of export credit and investment insurance, and ICIEC will provide GARANT with information on regional Debtors and GARANT will provide ICIEC on its Insured’s’ track records, recovery Cooperation in the debt collection procedures of post and after claim payment, providing technical  support  for  identification,  assessment  and  management  of  risks covered, to develop of facultative reinsurance arrangements, in addition the arrangement of joint marketing activities.

Commenting on the agreement Dr. Abdel Rahman Taha, the CEO of ICIEC said “ICIEC welcomes this partnership with GARANT which will strengthen our efforts in providing export credit and investment insurance especially in MENA region and Africa. It is believed that there is strong demand for export credit and political risk insurance from business communities especially after the economic crises and political turbulance in certain countries”. “Thereby encouraging the european businessmen to invest more and with confidence in OIC member countries, this is where ICIEC’s expertise lies”, he concluded.

Commenting on the agreement Mr. Louis Habib-Deloncle, Chairman of Garant: "The cooperation partnership with ICIEC is the continuation of Garant's strong involvement in key areas where demand in credit and political risk coverage is increasingly growing. It also reflects our willingness to share risks and expertise with key players in the field of export credit insurance. Thanks to ICIEC's long- lasting experience, Garant expands its ability in assessing regional risks and monitor them properly from MENA to Asia."

Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Berhad (EXIM Bank), together with The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) and the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (DHAMAN) jointly organised the 3^rd AMAN Union Annual Meeting from 20 – 22 November 2012 which was held in Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was officiated by Y.B. Senator Dato’ Dr. Awang Adek Hussin, the Deputy Finance Minister  of Malaysia.

AMAN Union Annual Meeting is a yearly gathering which assembles Commercial and Non-Commercial credit and political Risks Insurers and Reinsurers from member countries of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and also a ground-breaking event for the global Islamic business community to meet, interact and transact business.

The Forum brings together over 80 participants from partners in the field of export credit insurance. A number of special invitees and speakers/panelists including Dr. Mohammed Emir Mavani Abdullah, Director, Oil, Gas & Energy and Financial Services Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) and Dr. Frederico Gil Sander from the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) / World Bank will discuss on the recent developments in the industry during the event. The keynote speaker Mrs Diana Smallridge, the President and CEO of the International Financial Consulting spoke on “ECA’s, Critical Public Agents in Promoting Trade and Economic Development”.

The 2-day meeting discussed the latest development and updates in the industry, member’s expectations for the year 2013, impact of the global current credit crunch on the AMAN UNION members, as well as global trade as a whole. The Secretariat presented the 2011 Annual Report of the Union which reveals that the insured business by members reached USD 17.04 billion against 15.06 billion in 2010, an increase of a healthy 17.6% compared to 2010.

The AMAN Union Database Center was officially launched during the Meeting. AMAN Union Secretary-General, Dr. Abdel-Rahman El-Tayeb Taha commented “The AMAN Union Database is the first of its kind and is established for the benefit of national export credit insurance agencies in the Arab and Islamic countries. We are confident that the establishment of this Database Center will help in solving issues on reliability and cost of credit information in our Region”, Dr. Taha added, “This will enable members of the Union to share and exchange their underwriting knowledge and experience on.”

Dr. Abdel Rahman Taha who is also the CEO of the Islamic Corporation for the insurance of Investment and Export Credit Insurance (ICIEC), expressed deep concern over the prevailing uncertain economic outlook globally. “The union is now holding its 3^rd Annual Meeting in difficult economic times that will require more effort in the industry to face these challenges” stated Dr. Taha.

"We believe this Forum is playing a critical role in bringing the industry captains together to create a collective impact to advance the future of the credit insurance and reinsurance industry in Islamic and Arab Countries" said Dato’ Adissadikin Ali, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of EXIM Bank Malaysia.

-End-

ABOUT AMAN UNION

The AMAN UNION was launched under the leadership of ICEIC, the Islamic Corporation for the insurance of Investment and Export Credit Insurance, an affiliate of the Islamic Development Bank based in Jeddah, and Dhaman, the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation based in Kuwait. Thus, during the 1st Joint Meeting of Arab and Islamic WECAs held in Beirut, Lebanon on October 27-28, 2009. The Union is the first organization gathering investment and export credit agencies in the Arab and Islamic World under one umbrella, it aims at enhancing cooperation among Arab and Islamic export credit institutions and encouraging the development of investment and export credit insurance industry in its Member Countries. The Union also offers technical assistance to establish new agencies while also enhancing the insurance capacity of existing agencies. Including ICIEC and Dhaman, the Union currently has 17 members from more than 15 countries.

ABOUT EXIM BANK

Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Berhad (EXIM Bank) was incorporated on 29 August 1995 and is wholly owned by the Ministry of Finance (Incorporated). The Bank has assisted a diverse range of Malaysian business in an equally diverse range of sectors in their global ventures. EXIM Bank is taking pride in meeting its mandate role of stimulating and enhancing the competitiveness of Malaysian industries for exports and investments globally via the provisioning of internationally and domestically competitive banking and insurance products and advisory services.

The Bank serves a diverse range of clientele that consists of large corporations, SMEs, foreign governments and foreign companies and covering all sectors ranging from trading, manufacturing and infrastructure.

For further information, kindly contact:

Azmin HamzahAssistant Vice PresidentCommunications & Stakeholder Management Department Export-Import Bank of Malaysia BerhadLevel 1, EXIM Bank,Jalan Sultan Ismail,50250 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: +603-2601 2371Fax: +603-2601 2469Email:  azmin@exim.com.myWebsite: www.exim.com.my	Ahmad Ehsan Mohd MokhtarManagerCommunications & Stakeholder Management Department Export-Import Bank of Malaysia BerhadLevel 1, EXIM Bank,Jalan Sultan Ismail,50250 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: +603-2601 2388Fax: +603-2601 2469Email:  ehsan@exim.com.myWebsite: www.exim.com.my
Jamel eddine NagaMedia and Promotion ExecutivePromotion & International Relations Unit The Islamic Corporation for Insurance & Investment Insurance CreditP.O Box 15722 – JeddahKingdom of Saudi Arabia Tel: +966-26467608Fax: +966-26443447Email:  jnaga@isdb.orgWebsite: www.iciec.com

Under the auspices of H.E. Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel, Chairman of Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and under the supervision of Mr. Abdul Aziz Nasser AI-Sorayai, Chairman of the Industrial Committee of the Chamber, and in the presence of a large number of Saudi businessmen, ICIEC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Commercial Bank (NCB) on Saturday, October 20, 2012, at the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce and industry in Jeddah.

The MOU was signed by Mr. Khemais AI-Gazzah, the Operation Director and the Acting CEO of ICIEC and Mr. Adnan Bin Himd, Senior Vice President of NCB.

The MOU provides co-operation between ICIEC and NCB in supporting small and medium enterprises operating in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to encourage them to export and to provide solutions to meet the funding problems. Under the memorandum ICIEC will provide  insurance services by 90% of the credit  facilities provided by banks of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME's).

Commenting on the MOU, Dr.Abdel Rahman Tayeb Taha, the Chief Executive Officer of ICIEC, CEO said, "The signing of the MOU comes within the framework of the role of ICIEC in supporting to boost development in its member countries. The MOU is mainly  to help SME's in the Kingdom getting  financing to their non-oil exporters.

"Saudi businessmen are very active in doing  business worldwide, and  the Financial Institutions in the Kingdom are the first address that any Saudi Business can think of getting financing to export, and ICIEC is the only multilateral export credit  insurance providing services with sharia compliant which Financial Institutions can rely on". He added

"This agreement  is a continuation of the activity  carried out by the ICIEC since its inception  in 1994, in supporting of exporters, banks, and Saudi businessmen, as the volume of business insured  by the Corporation in the Kingdomis  more than USD 4 billion. We are confident that this MOU will help to increase the size of non-oil exports to the Kingdom" Dr.Taha said

In a move designed to help Malaysian investors, contractors doing business in Organization Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) member countries, ICIEC, and Exim Bank Malaysia (MEXIM), the national export-import credit bank of Malaysia, signed a Facultative Reinsurance Agreement (FRA) in the sidelines of the 3rd  Annual Meeting of Aman Union (a group of Arab and Islamic Export Credit Agencies) which is being held in Kuala Lumpur on 21st and 22nd  October 2012 at Mandarin Hotel.

The FRA was signed by Dr. Abdel Rahman EI-Tayeb Taha the Chief Executive Officer of ICIEC and Datuk Mohamed Hashism Hassin, the Chairman of the MEXIM.

The Agreement aims to provide reinsurance agreement in export credit and political risk insurance to Malaysian companies doing business abroad. It is believed that there is strong demand for export credit and political risk insurance from Malaysian companies especially after the economic crises and political turbulence in  the  Middle  East.  Malaysian companies  will  benefit  from the cooperation of  the  two signatories by insuring their investments in  ICIEC's member countries against the risk of war, civil disturbances, expropriation, transfer restrictions, and  non-honoring of sovereign financial obligations of the host country. Both institutions strongly believe that by joining forces they will meet the greater needs of Malaysia companies for export credit and political risk insurance and thereby encouraging them to invest more and with confidence in OIC member countries.

Commenting on the agreement Dr. Taha said "Malayisan companies are very active in doing business in OIC member countries especially in the Middle East, Africa, and CIS countries, this is where ICIEC's expertise lies. On the other hand, Malaysia Eximbank is the first address that any Malaysian companies can think of for the insurance of export credit. Therefore I believe this is the right combination at the very right time" he concluded.