The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) Board of Directors approved the allocation of AED735 million ($200 million) for Abu Dhabi Exports Office (ADEX) to accommodate export financing that will help spur the growth of exports of UAE national companies.

 

The 2021 budget allocation increased by 33.3 per cent, with AED184 million ($50 million) over the 2020 export development budget and will be used to directly support transactions with overseas buyers of goods and services of UAE origin while contributing to the expansion of the national export economy, said a Wam news agency report.

 

Providing qualified overseas buyers with access to competitive export financing gives UAE companies a powerful strategic advantage, particularly in the current economic environment when access to commercial financing is more challenging and expensive in many emerging global markets. It also reduces the risk and financial exposure of UAE exporters on international transactions, enabling companies to safely expand into strategic growth markets.

 

Access to export financing will also contribute to advancing the new "Operation 300bn" and "Make it in the UAE" comprehensive programme to more than double the value of the output of the national manufacturing and industrial sector in the next 10 years.

 

Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director-General of ADFD and Chairman of the Executive Committee of ADEX, said: "The newly announced Make it in the UAE initiative reinforces the strategic importance of our manufacturing and industrial sector to our future sustainable economic development strategy. The growth and diversification of our manufacturing capabilities will bring with it the opportunity to continue to expand the UAE export economy. UAE manufacturers can leverage the financial support and protection of ADEX to grow their international operations at a time when overseas buyers continue to face supply chain disruption and liquidity challenges and immediately contribute to our national Operation 300bn goal."

 

Over the past year ADEX worked together with a wide range of strategic partners across the UAE to educate business leaders on how to access and leverage export financing as a catalyst to accelerate economic recovery in the wake of the global lockdown and massive supply chain disruptions.

 

ADEX co-hosted workshops with Departments of Economic Development and Chambers of Commerce across the Emirates as well as a broad range of strategic partners that share a responsibility for supporting the growth of UAE businesses. In addition to these fora, ADEX financial services specialists provided UAE companies and their overseas buyers direct counsel on how to access export financing to overcome cash flow challenges and successfully close mutually beneficial transactions.

 

With the UAE leading the way on the global vaccine rollout and showing clear signs of economic growth, Saeed Al Dhaheri, Acting Director General of ADEX, believes that exporters are strongly positioned for success now and in the years ahead and are well supported by the nation’s highly diverse and active export community support network.

 

Al Dhaheri said: "Our nation’s exporters are now better equipped to understand how to leverage this new AED735 million ($200 million) in export financing to expand international operations. We encourage our business leaders to partner with ADEX to help increase their attractiveness as a global trade partner, add significant value to their overseas buyers and more effectively capture market share in key international markets. Through ADEX and the full UAE export support community, we are very confident that our national export economy will continue to grow and prosper in 2021 and long into the future."

 

ADEX was established by ADFD to provide loans and credit guarantees to foreign importers of non-crude sector goods and services from UAE companies, with payment made directly to the UAE national company upon successful delivery on contract terms. In its first full year of operation in 2020, ADEX committed AED500 million ($136 million) against the allocation budget to overseas buyers to meet their procurement needs from UAE exporters.—TradeArabia News Service