The Prague Club which was started in 1993 by the Berne Union is an information exchange network for new and maturing insurers of export credit and investment. The Prague Club supports members in developing their export credit and investment insurance schemes and facilities through twice yearly meetings discussions. Prague Club members were initially Central and Eastern European agencies; membership later expanded to include members from Asia and Africa. LCI has been admitted as qualified member during the Prague Club meeting in Cape Town, South Africa in October 2009. The Prague Club is today a prosperous entity, with 32 members from across the globe.
Nearly twenty credit insurance companies have gathered in Cape Town, South Africa for the Prague Club autumn meeting in November 2009. During this meeting, the Chairman welcomed Mr. Karim Nasrallah, the General Manager of the Lebanese Credit Insurer (LCI) who presented his company to all other Prague Club members. LCI currently has a co-operation agreement with the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (AIECGC), another Prague Club member, for the exchange of Debt Collection service; the agreement was signed in January 2009.
The meeting’s main discussion was about the global crisis and the impact on members’ business. A survey done during the gathering showed that LCI has not been negatively affected by the crisis. It has on the contrary profited by the crisis because of the market awareness it has created.
Furthermore, many other topics were also discussed and cases were presented by each company’s representative to share information about the various countries’ market. On the Lebanese market’s level for example, it is known that brokers are skilled and qualified in all lines of insurance except on the credit insurance level which is not yet well understood by brokers. LCI therefore created a training program where brokers can obtain a certificate in credit insurance.