The G20 Saudi Presidency for 2020 requested that Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) conduct a stock-take study on “Best Practices of MDBs and Specialized Multilateral Insurers (SMIs) in Political Risk Insurance for Equity Investments, Medium and Long-Term (MLT) Debt Investments and other Insurance Solutions.”

Recognizing ICIEC -IsDB Group’s Insurance arm- expertise in Political Risk Insurance, the G20 Saudi Presidency mandated the Corporation, in coordination with other MDBs, to prepare the study for the Chair of the G20 International Financial Architecture (IFA) Working Group.

The study analyzes the current state of the political risk and credit insurance market for equity investments and MLT debt investments. It also identifies best practices and potential gaps in the market and provides recommendations on how identified gaps could be filled, particularly for low income countries and fragile states. Based on the study, four recommendations were developed for both users and providers of credit and political risk cover for equity and MLT debt.

ICIEC with peer Specialized Multilateral Insurers (SMIs) and ECAs continued commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is reflected in the report through the examination of possible solutions for encouraging equity investments and MLT debt investments that can scale up capital flows to achieve the SDGs.

ICIEC CEO, Mr. Oussama KAISSI asserts, “the findings of this report will shape ICIEC’s future strategic focus from one that is centered on strengthening intra-OIC economic relations to expanding our role in insuring transactions that strengthen South-South trade.”

As the only Shariah compliant multilateral trade and investment insurer, ICIEC has a leadership role in developing the Islamic Finance Trade Credit & Political Risk Insurance industry. Building on the findings and recommendations of the study, ICIEC is working closely with the IsDB Group, other MDBs, and SMIs to educate the market on the benefits of Political Risk Insurance. ICIEC is also exploring further innovative product offerings in order to fill the exposed market gaps in member countries, with the goal of achieving a better and more sustainable future for all.

The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) have jointly launched the  COVID-19 Guarantee Facility, an innovative program providing US$2 billion in support of the private sector. The facility will be implemented by the two entities to support COVID-19 hit industries in the OIC member countries and to attract cross-border investments.

The COVID Guarantee Facility’s Framework Agency Agreement was signed by IsDB Group’s President, H.E. Dr. Bandar Hajjar, and ICIEC’s CEO, Mr. Oussama Kaissi, following the approval of IsDB’s Board of Executive Directors in its 336th meeting in June 2020.

The Agency Agreement assigns clear roles and responsibilities between the institutions based on their specializations, laying the foundation for a new operational model for the systematic partnerships between IsDB and IsDB Group entities. This agreement is expected to set the tone for mainstreaming synergies between ICIEC and other IsDB Group entities beyond the COVID Guarantee Facility.

ICIEC’s CEO, Mr. Oussama Kaissi, stated that “the framework agreement opens the door for new forms of cooperation between IsDB Group entities. ICIEC is very focused on addressing the challenges our Member Countries are facing in mitigating the repercussions of COVID-19 and we are dedicated to ensuring that the Corporation will meet all the framework’s requirements for the COVID-19 Guarantee Facility to be implemented successfully.”

The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Eximgarant of Belarus (Eximgarant), the Export Credit Agency (ECA) of the Republic of Belarus.

The signed MoU promotes collaborative efforts to support trade and investment between the Republic of Belarus and ICIEC member countries, encouraging joint export credit insurance provisions and other forms of cooperation such as technical assistance and capacity building.

This is the fifth MoU ICIEC has signed this year and the fourth with a European ECA. These partnerships facilitate flexible yet strong agreements for risk sharing in the form of reinsurance or co-insurance, supporting both parties to increase their risk appetite for trade transactions and investments.

“Through close collaboration with Eximgarant and other ECAs, both institutions are able to provide additional insurance capacity,” ICIEC CEO, Mr. Oussama Kaissi, says. “Through the expanded trade coverage supported by these partnerships, firms in member countries can access new markets, grow in existing markets, and in the process generate employment and economic growth. This new partnership with Eximgarant is helping to give a much-needed economic boost to ICIEC member countries, assisting them in recovering from the effects of the pandemic”.

On September 7th, 2020 the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) signed a memorandum of understanding with Compañía Española de Seguros de Crédito a la Exportación, S.A., Compañía de Seguros y Reaseguros, SME (CESCE). CESCE is a Spanish Export Credit Agency (ECA) located in Madrid, Spain that manages the facilitation of export credit insurance on behalf of the State.

The partnership encourages cooperation in supporting trade and investment between Spain and ICIEC member countries through joint export credit insurance provisions in addition to promoting other forms of cooperation such as technical assistance and capacity building.

This MoU follows a string of recent ICIEC partnerships with European ECAs, including Austria’s OeKB and the U.K.’s UKEF. These partnerships facilitate responsive and flexible agreements for risk sharing in the form of reinsurance or co-insurance, encouraging both parties to expand their risk appetite for trade transactions and investments.

“During this time of economic uncertainty, ICIEC has placed high importance on building relationships with peer ECAs,” says ICIEC CEO, Mr. Oussama Kaissi. “By working jointly, the Corporation and its partners can increase the reach and depth of service offerings, therefore enabling both parties to provide the best support possible to our member countries”.

On the 17^th of August 2020, the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation with the United Kingdom’s Export Credit Agency, which operates under the name UK Export Finance (UKEF).

The MoU allows for both entities to enter into co-insurance, reinsurance or cooperation agreements to engage in strategic joint projects that support exports and investments from the United Kingdom into ICIEC’s 47 member countries.

The partnership is beneficial for both institutions as they share an interest in promoting and supporting Islamic finance transactions. There is also potential for UKEF to risk-share with ICIEC and leverage on the Corporation’s preferred creditor status, across key international markets for UKEF’s support including UAE, Oman and Bahrain – all ICIEC member countries.

“This cooperation agreement strengthens the existing relationship the Corporation has with UKEF,” says ICIEC CEO Mr. Oussama Kaissi. “Despite, or perhaps due to the troubling times we’re living in, demand is growing for guarantees in OIC markets where credit and political risks pose a greater challenge. Having this partnership between two leading ECAs allows both institutions to take on larger projects with greater impact – better serving the citizens of ICIEC member countries.”

Richard Simon Lewis, | Director & Head of Business Development, Marketing & Communications said “UKEF is committed to the development of new relationships across new sectors, markets and regions which will expand the reach of its world class finance.  I therefore look forward to working with the ICIEC as we continue to help UK companies reach their full exporting potential by helping them to win, fulfil and get paid for international opportunities.’’   

The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) was awarded  “The Global Islamic Export Credit and Political Risk Insurance Award for 2020”. The award was presented at the 10th annual Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) that took place on September 14, 2020. 

The GIFA Awards Committee considered another three organisations in the same category and decided in favour of ICIEC after long deliberations based on a number of factors. This marks the fourth time ICIEC has received this accolade since its introduction in 2016 – previous awards occurring in 2016, 2017, and 2018 respectively.

“We are pleased to receive the prestigious Global Islamic Export Credit and Political Risk Insurance Award for 2020,” said ICIEC CEO, Mr. Oussama KAISSI, “We are truly amongst excellent peer recipients and nominees for the awards – each of which are highly respected organizations in the Islamic Finance industry”.

“During a year of global economic uncertainty, this award is a testament to the Corporation’s important mission to support our 47 member countries. It is a responsibility we do not take lightly and of course we are gratified when there is an opportunity to reflect on and celebrate our achievements.”

Sunday, May 31, 2020

JeddahSo far this year, 2020 has presented the world with an onslaught of challenges that have impacted businesses and the livelihoods of many civilians across the globe. From the fallout of devastating natural disasters to the implications of a global pandemic, ICIEC has been there to support member countries, their businesses, and their citizens.The corporation has been active in mitigating risks to keep trade and investment flowing through the provision of multilateral shariah compliant risk insurance solutions. While the economic outlook isn’t necessarily promising as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, ICIEC is proud to share positive performance results for the first half of the year, raising our total business insured by over 9%.

Business Insured by Region

Business has remained relatively stable across Asia and the SSAE regions, while growing 13% in the MENA region. This is likely due to the increased demand for insurance when oil prices are unstable.

Business Insured by Sector

The most notable sectoral increases are in energy, infrastructure and manufacturing support – with the Corporation nearly doubling the amount of infrastructure business insured compared to last year. ICIEC has increased business insured for energy related cables and electrical equipment, the manufacturing of foodstuffs, as well as building materials, construction and communications infrastructure.

The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) has released its Annual Development Effectiveness Report (ADER) for 2019.

ICIEC actively supports Member Countries’ to achieve their development agendas, working in alignment with their unique path towards prosperity. The Corporation fulfills this role by mitigating trade-related political and commercial risks through shariah compliant insurance solutions.

The ADER highlights the tangible impact of ICIEC’s work on furthering human development and well-being within OIC Member Countries, including the Corporation’s impact on facilitating lasting development by providing insurance solutions for imports and exports of essential commodities, and the construction of critical infrastructure.

“The 2019 ADER results further cement ICIEC’s continued commitment to delivering on its mandate of supporting trade and investment in our 47 member countries” said ICIEC CEO, Mr Oussama Kaissi. “Assisting member countries in their economic development and diversification is the underlying goal of each transaction ICIEC makes. Analyzing the impact of our work is therefore critical to measuring our success.”

The ADER is available on ICIEC’s website at https://iciec.isdb.org/knowledge-center/annual-development-effectiveness-reports

On July 22nd, 2020, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance and Investment of Export Credit (ICIEC) and Austrian Export Credit Agency (ECA) Oesterreichische Kontrollbank Aktiengesellschaft (OeKB).

The MoU is an agreement for OeKB and ICIEC to work jointly at increasing projects and investments from Austrian businesses and investors into ICIEC member countries. It will create opportunities for joint strategic projects between the two insurance entities in addition to other forms of cooperation such as technical assistance, training, and capacity building. The resulting trade flows and foreign investments will support sustainable economic development within the OIC

“ICIEC’s partnership with OeKB encourages Austrian businesses to participate in export transactions and make investments into member countries,” says ICIEC CEO, Oussama Kaissi, “The partnership is a critical move to demonstrate the dynamic and growing market potential that exists in the OIC despite perceived risk, thus incentivizing more western countries to consider the OIC region for foreign direct investment.”.

ICIEC’s partnership with peer ECAs and financial institutions in many countries allows for quick and flexible agreements for risk-sharing in the form of reinsurance or co-insurance, encouraging both parties to expand their risk appetite for trade transactions and investments.

The webinar entitled, “IsDB Group Private Sector Action Response to COVID-19” will discuss the challenges facing the private sector and global economy during the COVID-19 outbreak.

 Dubai, UAE- The Islamic Development Bank Group in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Economy and Annual Investment Meeting, will conduct a live webinar entitled “IsDB Group Private Sector Action Response to COVID-19” on the 6^th of July at 01:00 PM (KSA Time) to discuss the challenges facing the private sector and global economy during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The live session will also present the immediate joint action response of the IsDB Group Private Sector Entities namely, the Islamic Corporation for Insurance of Investments and Export Credits (ICIEC), Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), in order to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.

The webinar will discuss the future outlook to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the webinar will highlight the IsDB Group’s US$2.3 billion Strategic Preparedness and Response Programme for COVID-19 under its 3Rs approach “Respond, Restore and Restart”.

The keynote speakers who will share their in-depth perspectives in the webinar are Mr. Ousama Kaissi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC); Mr. Ayman Sejiny, the CEO & General Manager of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, the Chief Executive Officer of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) and Ms. Cornelia Meyer, the Chairman & CEO of Meyer Resources.

Mr. Mr. Oussama Kaissi, the Chief Executive Officer of The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) and one of the keynote speakers in the webinar, stated: “While the disruption to global trade and investment flows is unavoidable due to the unprecedented nature of the coronavirus pandemic, it is essential that institutions with the mandate and means to stabilize the trade ecosystem during the crisis heighten their efforts to do so. ICIEC is honoured to be a part of this webinar with the UAE Ministry of Economy and our IsDB Group peers in order to share how we are employing our multilateral insurance solutions toward the collective recovery of member countries.”

“The private sector can play a pivotal and proactive role to close funding gaps in the COVID-19 response. It is capable to minimize short-term risks to employees and long-term costs to businesses and the economy as a whole. ICD will work closely with 100+ local and regional financial institutions in its network to provide necessary support so they can continue to fund private sector, particularly SMEs in affected sectors within the markets they operate in” stated Mr. Ayman Sejiny, the CEO of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), and one of the keynote speakers in the webinar.

Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, the Chief Executive Officer of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) and one of the keynote speakers in the webinar, stated: “Since the outbreak of the pandemic, ITFC has moved quickly to put in place emergency financing measures to ensure that member countries continue to receive the support needed. Our COVID-19 ‘Rapid Response Initiative’ (RRI) has made US$ 300 million immediately available. This has facilitated the immediate access to medical equipment, the supply of staple foods and critical energy needs. Continuing to work closely with IsDB and partners, ITFC is moving forward with its Recovery Response Plan (RRP) with the provision of US$550 million for deployment over the next two years. The RRP is aimed at fixing the socio-economic damage which is expected to last longer than immediate impact of the virus; including the provision of lines of financing to fund the private sector and SMEs.”

“It is a great privilege to be in collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Economy and Islamic Development Bank Group in organizing this live webinar session that will tackle the major challenges currently being confronted by the private sector and the global economy as a whole,” Mr. Walid A. Farghal, Director General of the Annual Investment Meeting mentioned.

“The private sector is indispensable to economic growth. In fact, it contributes up to 90 per cent of employment and provides over 80 per cent of government revenues in developing countries. Thus, it is essential to highlight this huge initiative by the IsDB Group that enables the sectors adversely affected by COVID-19 to continue their business activities,” he furthered.

During the webinar, 3 online initiatives will be launched jointly by IsDB Group Private Sector Entities and AIM. These initiatives will support the private sector, trade and exports in OIC member countries and will be focusing on:

• Digital Country Presentations: to promote and showcase the investment and trade opportunities in OIC member countries which will serve as a virtual gathering and strategic innovative platform to support the investors, government agencies, private institutions, investment promotion agencies to discuss the best possible means to attract FDI.
• Startups Virtual Pitch Competition: to connect Startups globally and support them in meeting potential partners and investors from other parts of the world.
• MADE IN…..SERIES: this digital platform is open to all SMEs who want to showcase and present their local products, project and services to international audience.

The webinar will gather more than 700 participants from multiple sectors across the globe such as government officials, Chairmen, Presidents & CEOs of local and international companies, multilateral and financial institutions, Chambers of Commerce & Industry, business associations, investment promotion agencies, individual investors, and entrepreneurs.

For further information, please refer to the following website (https://isdbg-psf.org/webinar)

About the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC)

Established 26 years ago in 1994 as a multilateral institution and member of the Islamic Development Bank Group, ICIEC was tasked to promote cross-border trade and foreign direct investments (FDI) in its Member Countries. To fulfill its mandate, ICIEC provides risk mitigation solutions to Member Country exporters. By protecting them from commercial and political risks, exporters are enabled to sell their products and services across the world. The multilateral credit insurer also provides risk protection to investors from across the world that seeks to invest in ICIEC’s Member Countries. To promote the sustainable economic development of its Member Countries, ICIEC – on a limited basis – can also support international exporters selling capital goods or strategic commodities to ICIEC’s Member Countries. In addition to its core business, ICIEC also offers technical assistance to Member Countries’ Export Credit Agencies. ICIEC’s mission is to make trade and investment between Member Countries and the world more secure through the Shariah-compliant risk mitigation tool. Its vision is to be recognized as the preferred enabler of trade and investment for sustainable economic development in Member Countries. ICIEC is the only multilateral export credit and investment insurance corporation in the world that provides Shariah-compliant insurance and reinsurance solutions. Today, ICIEC supports trade and investment flows in 47 Member Countries spanning across Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa. Its target clients are corporates (both exporters and investors), banks and financial institutions as well as Export Credit Agencies and insurers.

About the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD)

ICD is a multilateral development organization and a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group. The mandate of ICD is to support economic development and promote the development of the private sector in its 55-member countries through providing financing facilities and/or investments in viable projects sponsored by eligible enterprises in accordance with the principles of Shari’ah. ICD also provides technical assistance and advisory services to member countries and their public and private enterprises with a view to improving the environment for private investment, facilitating the identification and promotion of investment opportunities, privatization of public enterprises and the development of the Islamic capital markets.  ICD applies Fintech to make finance more efficient and inclusive. ICD set up a platform built and centered on ICD relationship with 119 Financial Institutions. Through them, the IsDB Group in general and ICD in particular leverage access to the country and avail financing opportunities. For more information about ICD, visit www.icd-ps.org.

About the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC)

The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) is a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group. It was established with the primary objective of advancing trade among OIC Member Countries, which would ultimately contribute to the overarching goal of improving socioeconomic conditions of the people across the world. Commencing operations in January 2008, ITFC has provided more than US$51 billion to OIC Member Countries, making it the leading provider of trade solutions for the Member Countries’ needs. With a mission to become a catalyst for trade development for OIC Member Countries and beyond, the Corporation helps entities in Member Countries gain better access to trade finance and provides them with the necessary trade-related capacity building tools, which would enable them to successfully compete in the global market.

About the Islamic Development Bank Group Business Forum (THIQAH)

The Islamic Development Bank Group Business Forum (THIQAH) is the window of IsDB Group that facilitate contact and coordination between entities concerned of the IsDB Group and private sector firms and related institutions in IsDB Group member countries. The main objective of THIQAH is to establish a unique and innovative platform for dialogue, cooperation and inclusive partnership for business leaders committed to partnering in promising investment opportunities. THIQAH’s vision is to position itself as the leading business platform of the IsDB Group serving the private sector and maximizing the achievements of successful investment projects. Through facilitation and catalyst roles, THIQAH will be leveraging IsDB Group’s resources to offer necessary services and confidence to investors and to establish strategic partnerships with the leaders of the private sector in order to capitalize on their expertise and know-how on one hand, and to synergize with IsDB Group entities on the other. The primary focus will be on maximizing cross-border investment among member countries to be supported by IsDB Group's financial products and services. (www.idbgbf.org).