The Saudi Export-Import Bank (Saudi EXIM) made a significant appearance at the recently held TXF Global 2024 in Athens, a conference dedicated to exploring new prospects and confronting challenges in export credit and international trade finance.
Eng. Saad bin Abdulaziz Al-Khalab, CEO of Saudi EXIM, delivered insights into the institution’s pivotal role in propelling the Kingdom’s non-oil exports into the global arena. Since its inception, Saudi EXIM has extended more than $12 billion in credit facilities, such as financing and insurance services, with a remarkable $4 billion disbursed in the year 2023 alone. Al-Khalab unveiled plans to escalate the bank’s yearly financial contributions to upwards of $20 billion by 2030.
In a move to foster international trade, Al-Khalab revealed the bank’s collaboration with significant global traders, including Trafigura, to underwrite the procurement of Saudi commodities, especially in the mining sector, to the tune of $500 million. Additionally, he boasted of the largest insurance policy issued in the Middle East by the bank, a staggering $2 billion policy enveloping 450 financial bodies.
Emphasizing the bank’s alignment with the Kingdom’s sustainable and renewable initiatives, Al-Khalab pointed out Saudi EXIM’s concerted efforts to build synergies with export credit agencies worldwide, aiming to penetrate new markets. With over 800 industrial investment opportunities valued beyond $400 billion on the horizon for the next decade, the bank is committed to propelling industrial growth. Prominent ventures like Qiddiya and green hydrogen projects in NEOM were highlighted, with the objective to triple the number of industrial enterprises to 36,000 by 2035.
The conference also served as a platform for forging new partnerships. Al-Khalab signed a memorandum of understanding with Gregory Stamatopoulos, CEO of Export Credit Greek, to enhance economic ties and facilitate Saudi non-oil exports to the Greek market. Another memorandum, aiming at bolstering relations and identifying business and investment prospects to promote Saudi non-oil exports in Sweden, was inked with Anna Karin Jatko, Director General of the Swedish Export Credit Agency.