UAE’s Etihad Credit Insurance and Khalifa Fund teams up to boost SMEs’ export capabilities

Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, an Abu Dhabi government agency, has joined forces with the federal export credit agency of the UAE named Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI) to boost the export capabilities of the Emirates’ small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Under this agreement, the ECI pledges to allow access to a range of export credit, financing, and investment insurance products to benefit all exporters and companies registering with Khalifa Fund. This deal is important since the contribution of the SME sector to the UAE’s economy reached up to 53% in 2019, up from about 49% in 2018.

According to Mouza Al Nasri, the Acting CEO of Khalifa Fund, “the partnership with ECI is an embodiment of Khalifa Fund’s unswerving commitment towards further enhancing the export operations of SMEs in the UAE. Khalifa Fund and ECI share the same vision and have both always been vital to the growth of the UAE’s non-oil economy. I am extremely confident that this collaboration will fortify the operations of our members, thereby further reinforcing the country’s economy towards greater heights.”

Massimo Falcioni, Chief Executive Officer at ECI, is also on the same page and has stated, “we are incredibly honoured to undertake this partnership with Khalifa Fund, which aims to give a boost to UAE’s SMEs in the global arena. Our institutions share a common mandate to support small businesses and help them prosperously expand, and this alliance will allow us to facilitate new development of products that will help us achieve our aggressive goals of positioning the UAE as the global hub for trade and business. I am looking forward to the many opportunities that this alliance will offer in the interest of the country’s SMEs.”

Established in 2007, Khalifa Fund is an Abu Dhabi-based independent, not-for-profit economic development agency that aims to support entrepreneurs and the development of the SME ecosystem in the UAE.

ECI has also done similar works in the past, issuing AED420 million worth of trade credit support to the UAE SMEs at the beginning of 2020, which lasted until November. This equated to roughly AED 1 billion non-oil trade insured turnover while safeguarding the SMEs’ operations in the domestic market as well.

As per the partnership, it will support Khalifa Fund businesses by conducting workshops regarding the benefits of trade protection solutions. It will also offer market intelligence services and country risk reports to highlight the commercial and political risks associated with global trade activities. The two entities will also establish a committee that will implement initiatives to boost the Emirates’ exports.

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