Berne Union members support 10% of world exports
“The results from the first half of 2012 clearly show the commitment of our members to support global trade and investment in a volatile economic environment”, says Johan Schrijver, President of the Berne Union.
“There is strong demand from exporters to secure their international operations and employment says Peter Jones, Secretary-General. “Credit insurers are meeting this demand and ensuring continued international trade flows against a backdrop of a global economic slowdown.”
The Berne Union Annual General Meeting 2012 was hosted 9-11 October in Stockholm by EKN, the Swedish export credit agency.
In the first half of 2012, members of the Berne Union have indemnified US$ 2 billion to exporters, protecting them from losses suffered due to buyer defaults in all regions of the world.
For insurance of trade transactions with payment terms of typically 30to 90 days, members increased levels of support in the first half of 2012,maintaining a level matching the pre-crisis levels. Credit insurance capacity remains steady at just over US$ 900 billion at the end of the first half 2012,a level similar to pre-crisis.
In the field of insurance for export transactions on payment terms of up to 15 years, the volume of business supported reached an all-time high of US$589 billion at the end of June 2012, demonstrating sustained demand for risk mitigation products for longer term transactions.
For insurance of foreign direct investment, the new business insured reached US$47 billion in the first half of 2012, 10% ahead of the same period last year.
“Despite these positive results, members continue to express serious concerns about the ability of banks to fund trade and investment given the proposed regulatory changes and the on-going funding challenges that banks are facing”, says Johan Schrijver. “Any further deterioration in bank capacity for trade and export finance could have serious consequences for global trade and economic recovery.”
With the insurance capacity offered, Berne Union members are confiden tto support at least the same volumes of export trade and investment as last year. In 2011, they insured US$ 1.8 trillion of international trade and investments, or more than 10% of world exports.
50th Member
The African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) was admitted as the 50 th member of the Berne Union.
ATI is a multilateral trade and investment insurance institution headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, and is owned by a number of African member countries, as well as public and private sector organizations, including two members of the Berne Union.
ATI is an important addition to the Berne Union membership as members continue to report an increased demand to support trade flows and infrastructure projects on the African continent.
Election of Officers
Johan Schrijver, Managing Director of ATRADIUS Dutch State Business(Netherlands), was re-elected as the President of the Berne Union. MarceloFranco, Executive Vice President of Medium and Long Term Business (StateGuarantees) of SBCE (Brazil) was elected as the incoming Vice President of theBerne Union. Ralph Lai, HKEC (Hong Kong) and Khemais El-Gazzah, ICIEC (SaudiArabia) were elected as the incoming Chair and Vice Chair of the Short TermCommittee. Ken Tinsley, US EXIMBANK (USA) and Hans-Joachim Pflocksch, EULERHERMES Kreditversicherungs-AG (Germany) were re-elected as Chair and Vice Chairof the Medium/Long Term Committee.
John Hegeman, AIG (USA) and Vinco David, ATRADIUS (the Netherlands) were elected as the incoming Chair and Vice Chair of the Investment Insurance Committee.
Note to editors:
About the Berne Union
The Berne Union (International Union of Credit & Investment Insurers) is the leading international association for the export credit and investment insurance industry. Itworks for cooperation and stability in cross-border trade by supporting the international acceptance of sound principles in export credits and foreign investments and by providing a forum for professional exchange among its members.
Members
The 49 members of the Berne Union covered over US$1.8 trillion worth of business in 2011, which is about 10% of the world’s total export trade. Members are both private companies, offering worldwide risk management solutions, and state backed export credit agencies,focusing upon the support of national exports and outward investments.
Interaction
Members benefit from the highest quality information exchange through several yearly meetings, seminars and workshops, and interactively online. Exchanges focus on technical aspects of international trade, as well as developing and promoting best practices.
Links
The Berne Union has well established links with other organizations that play important roles in world trade including the ICC, IMF, OECD, World Bank, WTO and regional development banks.
The Secretary General of the Berne Union is Mr Peter M Jones, and the Secretariat is based in London.
For more information: www.berneunion.org
“Credit Insurers support the real economy- Berne Union members support 10% of world exports.” Berne Union. Stockholm, October 2012. www.berneunion.org