Dubai: The UAE and Egypt have agreed to strengthen trade relations and boost bilateral exports between the two countries through a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Etihad Credit Insurance, ECI, the UAE Federal Export Credit company and the Export Credit Guarantee Company of Egypt, ECGE.

“Taking into account the very strong non-oil trade relations between Egypt and the UAE, this agreement will pave the way for the identification and development of more business opportunities. ECI’s partnership with ECGC will not only reinforce the existing partnership between the two countries but will also boost the regional and global competitiveness of local businesses,” said Massimo Falcioni, CEO of ECI. UAE-Egypt non-oil trade in 2018 amounted to Dh20.1 billion.

The alliance was formed during the UAE-Egypt Business Forum, organised by the UAE Ministry of Economy, in partnership with UAE International Investors Council and UAE-Egypt Business Council. The forum, which featured Massimo Falcioni as a keynote speaker, aims to provide businesses based in both countries with requisite market knowledge and business networks.

Under this alliance, both ECI and ECGE will create a collaborative task force to explore trade, collaborate on technical and economic matters through dedicated work streams that include: insurance, reinsurance, collections cooperation; exchange of commercial information and credit opinion; technical training programs; Halal industry & Sharia-compliant insurance and finance solutions; trade promotional activities such as events and workshops; facilitating access of SMEs by identifying specific solutions on both the export and investment fields; sharing expertise and best practices on a reciprocal basis in commercial underwriting, risk management, country assessment, claims and recovery, among others.