ICIEC Newsletter

May 2023

Message from the CEO

Our thoughts and prayers remain with our brothers and sisters in the Republic of Türkiye and the Syrian Arab Republic in the aftermath of the most devastating earthquake to hit the region in more than 20 years. Following the quake, a dam collapsed in northwestern Syria, causing the overflow of the Orontes River fv and floods caused by heavy rains in southern Türkiye.

Natural disasters and those exacerbated by climate change are fronts of mind, particularly for several Western Asian member states.

Food security has been a big challenge across the MENA region in particular. For the first quarter edition of the newsletter, we want to take a closer look at how ICIEC has been helping foster food security, resilience, and sustainable growth throughout the OIC member states, particularly in Western Asian countries.

ICIEC takes its role in facilitating agricultural and fishery products very seriously. Last year we helped enable more than US$1.6 billion in exports through reinsurance agreements with our export credit agency partners. We’re off to a promising start in 2023.

As we approach the IsDB Group Annual Meetings in Jeddah scheduled from 10-13 May, we will focus on KSA Vision 2030 – and how food security will be an integral part of this mission.

In line with our mandate to promote trade and facilitate the flow of FDI, we aim to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. Our development goal remains to help Member States’ welfare and sustainable growth.

Sincerely,

Oussama KAISSI

Chief Executive Officer, ICIEC

News & Events

January 11 2023 Jeddah, KSA ICIEC has signed a master reinsurance agreement with Uzbekinvest Export- Import Insurance Company to support exports from Uzbekistan. Under the facultative agreement, ICIEC will provide reinsurance services to Uzbekinvest for exports of goods and services from Uzbekistan to the rest of the world. This agreement will enhance the underwriting capacity of Uzbekinvest and increase the country’s exports. The agreement was signed by Oussama Kaissi, Chief Executive Officer of ICIEC, and Rustam Khalikov, First Deputy Director General, Uzbekinvest.

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January 12 2023 Jeddah, KSA The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment & Export Credit (ICIEC) has approved and welcomed the accession of Azerbaijan as its 49th member state. ICIEC will work closely with the government of Azerbaijan to support economic and social infrastructure projects in trade, agriculture, energy, water, sanitation, and urban services and with the private sector to improve access to finance. ICIEC’s presence as an investment partner provides a measure of reassurance and encouragement to other potential investors seeking opportunities in Azerbaijan. The investment projects often provide employment, enhanced, modern and efficient infrastructure, and better quality of life for citizens.

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January 19, 2023 Abu Dhabi, UAE ICIEC and Masdar have signed an MoU which aims to boost the transition to renewable and clean energy. Under the MoU, the two parties agree to cooperate in promoting joint action in the origination, financing, and execution of renewable energy projects through ICIEC’s insurance support in its member states. The partnership will have a combined current, committed, and exclusive capacity of over 23GW of renewable energy, with the expectation of reaching over 50GW total capacity by 2030. Masdar and ICIEC share a common interest in contributing to the growth of renewable energy in ICIEC member states, including in the MENA region, and to international climate finance architecture.

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January 25, 2023  Jeddah, KSA ICIEC has been honoured at the Islamic Finance News Awards with ‘IFN Indonesia Deal of the Year 2022’ for its US$80 million political risk insurance cover for SIDRA Capital. ICIEC received the award at the IFN Dubai Awards Ceremony on March 16. The insurance cover supported SIDRA Capital in securing a Shariah-compliant loan facility to PT MCT (Asia Trading) in Indonesia. The facility is used to fund transactions involving suppliers and operators in the mining and nickel trading sectors, specifically, to help SME mines have access to finance, assisting local mining companies in bridging the current financing gap.

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January 19, 2023 Abu Dhabi, UAE ICIEC has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Libyan Export Promotion Center (LEPC) to support cooperation between both parties. The agreement is to facilitate Libyan exports and create an environment supportive of building confidence in companies to export. LEPC is a government body affiliated to the Ministry Economy. The agreement will help provide export credit and investment insurance facilities to a range of Libyan institutions and companies. The MoU aims to support introductory seminars for Islamic insurance, export credit and investment insurance, provide technical support to local insurers, introduce foreign investments into Libyans’ export projects and exchange information on exporters based in Libya looking for export credit insurance.

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February 2023 ICIEC takes great pride in nurturing its leadership skills internally and has run a series of leadership transformation workshops. This is an unusual, even non-traditional, path to really boost internal leadership skills and help ICIEC to develop the way it delivers its important mission.

The program, which started in October 2021 and ran through until February 2023, aimed to help leaders – and potential leaders – to master the skills and competencies for effective performance in the digital world with a modern approach to enhancing positive working practices and an upbeat and enthusiastic working atmosphere.

In practical terms, the leadership transformation workshops included a series of both group and individual activities and experiences to boost performance. This included identifying and developing the competencies required for good leadership, increasing staff morale, motivation, and productivity, promoting heightened decision-making, creating and building better teams and training leaders on how to become transformational of those teams.

Through six leadership workshop modules, ICIEC management explored how to understand their role as a leader, develop executive presence, become transformational leader, lead and managing change, and build a results-oriented culture while cultivating effective communication and collaboration.

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March 19, 2023 Jeddah, KSA ICIEC has developed and launched a capacity building programme for the users of the OIC Business Intelligence Centre (OBIC), which is targeted at supporting credit and investment decisions. The programme, called ‘the role of credit information sharing and business intelligence in supporting trade and investment decisions will help OBIC users understand OBIC better, how best to use it, and how to employ resources to improve credit risk management and trade and investment financing access and risk management. The three-day programme will also help contribute to improving credit rating reporting ecosystems in OIC member states.

Read more here

Insights

Food security and ICIEC: Endeavouring to
meet the challenges of SDG2

Fostering food security, resilience, and sustainable growth with IOFS

Côte d’Ivoire: A holistic food security strategy

Meet the team: What ICIEC does in food security.

Deep dive to future frontiers for financing farming underwater

Project Highlights

ICIEC successfully supports US$39.4 million of essential refined petroleum supplies to Pakistan

In February 2023, ICIEC provided comprehensive insurance coverage for two refined petroleum transactions valued at US$39.4 million. These transactions were facilitated between two top-tier Pakistani banks and a UAE-based energy company, with the primary objective of enhancing Pakistan’s economy by ensuring the import of strategic energy supplies.

ICIEC’s insurance coverage not only safeguarded the transactions against potential risks but also helped to mitigate financial uncertainties and promote international trade. These transactions were strategically designed to align with two of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG7 and SDG8. SDG7 aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all, while SDG8 focuses on promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth and decent and productive employment.

By providing insurance coverage for these transactions, ICIEC played a significant role in supporting Pakistan’s economic growth, job creation, and energy security. The country is a net importer of oil and faces the risk of shortages and fuel scarcity, which could lead to severe strategic consequences for its economy. Therefore, the support provided by ICIEC is of utmost importance, and it reflects the institution’s continued commitment to promoting economic development and prosperity in member states.

Overall, ICIEC’s insurance coverage for these transactions reinforces its reputation as a reliable and effective institution that provides essential support to member states.

ICIEC supports locomotive exports from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan

March 31 2023, ICIEC provided reinsurance support to KazakhExport JSC (Kazakhstan) for the lease of locomotives to Azerbaijan Railways. The cover is for US$ 5.61 million, and the tenor is for 3 years. The transaction involves the financial leasing of 10 diesel locomotives of Type TE33A by the Industrial Development Fund (lessor) to Azerbaijan Railways, which is the importer/lessee of the locomotives. In 2015, KazakhExport JSC has insured the transaction for the full lease period of 10 years, and ICIEC provided facultative reinsurance cover for the first 7 years. With the new cover, the transaction is reinsured for the whole lifetime.

Azerbaijan Railways is the national state-owned rail transport operator in Azerbaijan. It was established in 2009; however, its history dates back to 1880, when the first railway line became operational.

From ICIEC’s perspective, the transaction meets the criteria of supporting intra-OIC trade as it involves export of capital goods from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan, both ICIEC Member States. The transaction also meets SDG 9 of the United Nations, which is pertinent to Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.

KazakhExport JSC is established in 2003 and is the Export Credit Agency (ECA) of Kazakhstan. It maintains its position as one of the key development institutions of the country. KazakhExport JSC and ICIEC are strategic partners, and the cooperation of both institutions involve other areas such as the reinsurance of Letters of Credit related to exports from Kazakhstan.

ICIEC continues its support to the mining industry in Kazakhstan

March 31 2023, ICIEC extended insurance cover to Eurasian Machinery (EMBV), Netherlands, for the sale of mining equipment to Kachary Ruda mine in Rudny, Kazakhstan. The transaction involves the import of Hitachi excavators and dump trucks worth US$ 78.8 million from Japan. The transaction is covered under the “import of capital goods from non-member states scheme” of ICIEC.

Kachary Ruda was part of the Sokolov-Sarybai Mining Production Association (SSGPO) JSC and was spun off in 2020 into a separate entity. It is ultimately owned by Eurasian Resources Group (ERG).

Eurasian Machinery is the sole and exclusive distributor of Hitachi Construction Machinery (HCM) in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

Kazakhstan is a mineral-rich Member State, and the mining sector has traditionally been strategic in terms of its contribution to the economy. The transaction meets SDG 9 of the United Nations which is pertinent to Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.

ICIEC and EMBV have been cooperating since 2014 for the supply of mining equipment to different companies in the aluminium, iron ore and gold mining business in Kazakhstan.

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