Etihad Credit Insurance and Adex team up to expand finance offering to UAE firms

The organisations will develop new products to help UAE companies and their overseas buyers address immediate liquidity and cash flow issues

Cargo containers at Jebel Ali Port in Dubai. Reuters.

Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI) and Abu Dhabi Exports Office (Adex) have partnered to offer a full range of financial products to help UAE companies to boost exports and ease financing challenges amid Covid-19.

The two entities will offer a full range of credit facilities including direct financing, guarantees and export credit insurance to businesses, the two entities said on Tuesday.

“We both have a rich suite of uniquely complementary financial and insurance products and services that are highly relevant to helping business leaders overcome the challenges they are facing in the current Covid-19 economy,” said Saeed Al Dhaheri, acting director-general of Adex.

“United together, we can expand our reach to more effectively and efficiently provide much needed financial support to our national companies and their overseas buyers when and where they need it most.”

Global trade has been heavily affected by the restrictions put in place to stop the spread of Covid-19. Earlier this month, the World Trade Organisation predicted that global trade would fall between 13 per cent and 32 per cent in 2020, with all regions facing double-digit declines.

As part of the agreement, Adex said it will extend its existing buyers' credit facilities to include loans guaranteed by ECI to stimulate trade.

Meanwhile, ECI will offer UAE exporters access to its extensive database of more than 300 million companies worldwide to establish a new customer portfolio.

The two organisations will also work together to develop new products to help UAE companies and their overseas buyers address the immediate liquidity and cash flow issues threatening the global supply chain, the statement added.

“Together we can help enhance UAE businesses and exporters’ cash flow and safely develop business expansions. We can make sure they get paid for those transactions in advance, improving their cash flow. And we can assist them through our extensive database of companies to access new markets and reduce the cost of exports,” said Massimo Falcioni, chief executive of ECI.

ECI, set up in 2018, provides guarantees and insurance solutions to mitigate the political and commercial risks of exporting by offering financing or refinancing for export transactions on behalf of the UAE government. The entity has partnerships with local and international banks that can offer loans to UAE companies to fund exports to overseas buyers, with ECI providing insurance.

Adex, which was set up last year by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development to help drive international trade, said this month it is making available a Dh550 million funding package to help companies restart exports as the global economy gradually reopens.

The UAE has taken various steps to help local companies as they adjust to a global economy that is gradually shaking off restrictions to reopen.

Abu Dhabi earlier this week rolled out an initiative to boost exports from the emirate to 60 target markets worldwide in an effort to expand its foreign trade.

The new digital platform, Abu Dhabi Export Gateway, will “offer an integrated approach” to export at least 100 local products from 10 different sectors, the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development said on Sunday.