(WAM) — More than 270 UAE exporters and potential international buying partners came together virtually this week for the UAE’s major buyers and exporters forum since COVID-19 shut down global trade events.

During an online trade promotion event, participants discussed how the UAE national export community can help them overcome the significant financial challenges and risk they face in today’s ever-shifting economic environment to stimulate export transactions that can expedite economic recovery and business growth.

The event was co-hosted by Dubai Exports, Abu Dhabi Exports Office, ADEX, and Etihad Credit Insurance, ECI, to help stimulate sustainable economic growth while diversifying the UAE export economy. The event helped businesses understand the full range of strategic financial and support services available to them through UAE government to fund and insure safe, secure import-export transactions during a time where the global supply chain is facing a critical liquidity shortage and availability of traditional commercial financing is limited for companies in key emerging economies.

Dubai Exports in cooperation with its 24 international offices and its international strategic partners worked together to attract international buyers from more than 35 global markets to the forum titled Export Financing Solutions to Improve Liquidity, Stimulate Sustainable Economic Recovery. The forum provided a platform to discuss the challenges both UAE exporters and their foreign buyers are facing today in an uncertain economic and political environment as well as solutions to those challenges available through ADEX and ECI. While participants raised a range of current challenges and business issues they are struggling with, access to affordable capital and fear of the potentially crippling impact from increased risk of significant delays and non-payment of purchase contracts topped the list of concerns.

Bharat Krishnan, Head of Sales & Marketing at National Food Industries LLC said, “Access to working capital and increased financial risk of exporting are at the top of the list of the challenges we as exporters as well as our international buyers are dealing with. Access to financing is essential to get goods and services flowing across our borders and put us on the road to immediate economic recovery and long-term growth. What we heard today is just how far the UAE has gone to strengthen the financial support network available not only to local companies but also to our foreign buyers that can effectively make exports the lynchpin of our COVID-19 economic recovery.”

Saed Al Awadi, CEO of Dubai Exports, an agency of Dubai Economic Development, said, “The foresight of UAE leadership to invest in establishing entities like ADEX and ECI over the past few years will prove to be a game changer in our ability to strategically leverage exports to drive our national economic recovery and long-term growth. The availability of export credit financing and insurance in today’s cash strapped environment gives our exporters a powerful competitive advantage and increases the attractiveness of UAE companies as international trading partners.”

Both ADEX and ECI were established within the past three years with similar mandates to help drive diversification and growth of the UAE export economy as a core pillar of the nation’s post crude oil economy. Both entities contribute to the country’s overall export development community ecosystem, providing uniquely distinctive but also highly complementary products and services that in today’s challenging economic environment add great value to the exporters and their foreign buyers.

ADEX was established by Abu Dhabi Fund for Development to provide direct and indirect financing and credit guarantees to overseas buyers from the public and private sectors seeking to import goods and services from UAE companies in all non-crude oil sectors. Through its direct credit facilities, ADEX provides loans to qualifying foreign buyers of UAE goods and services with payment made directly from ADEX to the UAE exporter, reducing their risk of delayed or non-payment. ADEX has allocated AED 550 million ($150 million) in funding for qualifying export transactions of national companies for 2020 that is immediately available to support COVID-19 economic recovery.

ECI was established as the UAE Federal export credit company to provide guarantees and insurance solutions to mitigate the political and commercial risks arising from financing or refinancing export transactions on behalf of the UAE government. ECI has built a large ecosystem of strategic partners that includes local and international banks which can offer loans to UAE companies to fund exports to overseas buyers, with ECI providing insurance to secure that funding and protect the supply chain.

ADEX and ECI have also established a strategic partnership to work together to combine their highly complementary suite of financial and insurance products and services to help stimulate growth and maximize the competitiveness of UAE companies in the global marketplace. The entities are also working on developing new joint products to help UAE companies and their overseas buyers address the immediate liquidity and cash flow issues threatening the global supply chain.

Saeed Al Dhaheri, Acting Director General of ADEX, said, “This international buyers forum is evidence of the potential power and impact of our united together national mantra to grow our export economy. The strength and reach of Dubai Exports to bring high-value buyers from key markets around the world to the doorstep of UAE’s top exporters enabled us to deliver a strong and clear message that the UAE stands behind our exporters and their foreign buyers alike with strategic financial products and services that can drive their business growth and mutual success.”

The international buyers event is part of a shared commitment between Dubai Exports, ADEX and ECI to support local export companies across the UAE to strengthen competitiveness on a global stage and safely enter new international markets while diversifying the UAE export economy and stimulating economic growth.