The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) in its 2021 programme has committed $1.1 billion to providing integrated trade solutions to Egypt.
The programme signed between Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, Chief Executive Officer of ITFC, Ashraf Abd Allah, Deputy CEO, EGPC and Ahmed Youssif, GASC Vice Chairman is aimed at facilitating trade, building capacities, providing institutional support, and enhancing the competitive capabilities of various sectors related to foreign trade.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Dr Hala ElSaid, Minister of Planning and Economic Development for Egypt said, “The programme within the umbrella of the strategic partnership between the Egypt and ITFC comes in light of the framework agreement that concluded between both parties in 2018, through which ITFC provided $3 billion in favour of Egypt for a period of five years to provide basic food commodities, crude oil products and petroleum products, strengthen internal value chains, accelerate the growth of SMEs, and develop trade.”
Dr ElSaid also stressed on the successful partnership and cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank (Group) and ITFC, where the latter’s aggregate portfolio in 2020 reached $11.2 billion.
ITFC was committed to meeting the country’s need for food supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic by approving $282 million of financing for GASC.
Egypt’s Minister for Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Eng. Tariq Al-Mulla, also expressed his appreciation to ITFC for its keenness and continuous support of the country’s petroleum sector to meet the need for crude oil, petroleum products and butane, as well as its commitment to achieve targeted development and modernization within the sector.
ITFC played a vital and effective role, especially in light of the spread of COVID-19, by providing financing support to EGPC to meet the needs of the Egyptian refineries for energy consumption in the local markets.
Mrs Nevin Gamea, Egypt’s Minister for Trade and Industry further reflected on the Trade Finance and Trade Development Programmes implemented this year with ITFC, which include the implementation of a number of projects in coordination with the relevant ministries and Egyptian authorities in the areas of integrated trade solutions.
In 2021, collaboration between Egyptian Authorities and ITFC will continue with the aim of providing institutional support and capacity building programmes. Special focus will be on the priority sectors that will be identified by the Egyptian government, pointing out the commitment towards implementing the Arab Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) Programme, in cooperation with the Export Development Authority and a number of relevant agencies, which was launched by ITFC last December.
This programme, in addition to AfTIAS, aims to enhance the capacity of existing exporters, create a generation of new exporters, and encourage the development of new export products in existing and promising new African markets.
In his statement, CEO of ITFC, Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol said, “This latest financing holds special significance considering the calamities caused by COVID-19 on local trade ecosystem. Many businesses, including SMEs and exporters, have been badly affected. By securing the import of critical commodities, we can also focus on reviving trade. As part of this agreement, ITFC will support the Egyptian government to identify and grow key trade development areas including boosting its cotton sector value chain, driving female entrepreneurship, and boosting SME growth in general.”
The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation 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 $51 billion of financing to OIC member countries, making it the leading provider of trade solutions for these 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.
