Arab Investment & Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman) has revealed a drop in outstanding commitments for insuring investment, finance and exports to Arab countries against commercial and political risks by 1.2 percent to USD 201.5 billion in 2020, making up 7.1 percent of the global total.

Due to the disruption of various trade activities over the Coronavirus pandemic, the drop in trade and the slight rise in foreign direct investment inflows into Arab countries during 2020, new insurance commitments for investment, finance and exports to Arab countries against commercial and political risks fell by 7.1 percent to USD 108 billion, covering 13.6% of the total Arab merchandise imports, said a Dhaman release.

Dhaman’s Director-General Abdullah Al-Sabeeh was quoted in the statement as saying that Arab countries acquired 4.3 percent of new commitments for insuring investment, finance and exports in the world at the end of 2020.

He added that export insurance in different terms had the lion?’s share in new commitments by 92.1 percent, insurance against political risks hit 4.4 percent, and the rest went to other additional products.

New insurance commitments were geographically concentrated in five Arab countries which had 67 percent of the total. They are Saudi Arabia by 23.7 percent, UAE by 21 percent, Egypt by 17.2 percent, Morocco by 8.4 percent and Qatar by 5.9 percent, he added.

Export credit agencies acquired the largest share of the total new commitments in the region during 2020 by 63 percent, as private agencies came second by 36 percent, followed by multiparty agencies, Al-Sabeeh noted.

New medium and long term export insurance commitments were concentrated in the sectors of energy, infrastructure, transport, natural resources and manufacturing by a total share of over 70 percent, he added.

The Arab Investment & Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman) is a pioneer multinational organization that has provided guarantee services against commercial and non-commercial risks for the last four decades.

Established in April 1974 in Kuwait as the first multilateral investment guarantee provider in the world, Dhaman is owned by the governments of Arab states and 4 Arab financial institutions. Dhaman is highly rated by S&P since 2008, reflecting both Dhaman?’s very strong business and financial profiles.

Source: Kuwait News Agency