UAE exporters move closer to German risk cover for overseas projects

Dubai: UAE exporters could get greater support in managing the financial risks of international projects under a new cooperation framework signed between Etihad Credit Insurance and Germany’s Euler Hermes.

The two export credit institutions have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that establishes a framework for long-term cooperation on international export and infrastructure projects involving suppliers from the UAE and Germany.

The agreement comes after Germany’s official Export Credit Guarantee Scheme covered projects and contracts worth about €1.4 billion across the Gulf region in 2025, almost twice the amount recorded a year earlier.

The MoU was signed by Mohammed Tahlak, Director of Corporate Support at ECI, and Jan-Philipp Apking and Thomas Baum, Members of Executive Management at Euler Hermes.

Euler Hermes manages Germany’s official Export Credit Guarantee Scheme on behalf of and for the account of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The institutions will now discuss a comprehensive Reinsurance Agreement that is intended to create a permanent framework for sharing export credit risks linked to transactions involving suppliers from both countries.

The proposed arrangement could also cover cooperation in third-country markets where Emirati and German companies are involved in the same export or infrastructure transaction.

Individual transactions would still be assessed separately, with participation determined by each institution’s product portfolio, eligibility requirements, risk assessment criteria and applicable international requirements.

Earlier Iraq project provided model

The latest agreement follows cooperation between ECI and Euler Hermes under an ad-hoc reinsurance arrangement concluded in 2024 for a major infrastructure project in Iraq.

That transaction provided the two institutions with an existing model for coordinated reinsurance involving German and Emirati companies and formed the basis for the broader cooperation now being discussed.

The proposed framework brings together ECI’s support for eligible UAE-based exporters with Germany’s established export credit guarantee system, giving both institutions a structure through which they can assess international projects involving suppliers from the two countries.

ECI said the arrangement is aimed at developing risk-sharing mechanisms for eligible UAE-based exporters and supporting their access to international markets, while contributing to the growth and diversification of the UAE’s non-oil exports.

Participation in individual transactions will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, in line with each institution’s product portfolio, eligibility requirements, risk assessment criteria and applicable international requirements.