• Home
• News Article

Lebanon third among 12 Arab states in export credit insurance

12 August 2010

BEIRUT: Figures issued by the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman) indicate that Lebanon ranked third among 12 Arab countries in the value of overall export credit insurance contracts signed in 2009, as reported by Byblos Bank’s Lebanon This Week.

Dhaman provides insurance coverage to Arab and non-Arab investments in its member countries against non-commercial risks, as well as insurance against commercial and non-commercial risks for inter-Arab and worldwide export credits.

As an exporter, Lebanon signed $77 million worth of export credit insurance contracts in 2009, accounting for 13 percent of the total value of such contracts. Lebanon signed $85.9 million or 13.7 percent of the total value in 2008.

Lebanon ranked ahead of Kuwait with $50.3 million (8.5 percent), Bahrain on $27.5 million (4.7 percent), Egypt with $24.8 million (4.2 percent), Syria with $24.4 million (4.1 percent), Sudan with $10.5 million (1.8 percent), the UAE with $9.4 million (1.6 percent), Oman with $4 million (0.7 percent), Jordan with $3.1 million (0.5 percent) and Algeria with $1.8 million (0.3 percent). It came behind Saudi Arabia, which accounted for $247.2 million, 42 percent of the total and Tunisia with $109.6 million (18.6 percent). Lebanon did not sign any investment insurance contracts with Dhaman last year as an exported FDI.

In parallel, Lebanon ranked in 13th place among 17 Arab importing countries with $5 million worth of export credit insurance contracts signed in 2009, representing 0.85 percent of the total value of such contracts. Lebanon ranked in 8th place with $16.8 million worth of such contracts signed in 2008.

It also ranked behind the UAE whose credit insurance contracts of $58 million, or 9.8 percent of the total, followed by Kuwait with $47.8 million (8.1 percent), Saudi Arabia with $47.5 million (8 percent), Jordan with $41.3 million (7 percent), Syria with $32 million (5.4 percent), Sudan with $31.1 million (5.3 percent), Qatar with $28.2 million (4.8 percent), Egypt with $27.3 million (4.6 percent), Bahrain with $26.7 million (4.5 percent), Tunisia with $17.2 million (2.9 percent), Oman with $16.4 million (2.8 percent) and Yemen with $8.5 million (1.5 percent). It ranked ahead of only Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Mauritania.

Lebanon was not a recipient of Dhaman-insured foreign direct investment last year.

Further, Lebanon ranked in 14th place among 17 Arab countries in terms of total current contracts with $20.7 million as at end-2009, of which $16 million relate to current investment contracts and $4.7 million to current export credit contracts. Lebanon ranked in 7th place with $32.4 million in such contracts as at end-2008. Current contracts represent the value of insurance contracts whether executed or not for a country as a destination of imports and investments.

Lebanon’s total current contracts accounted for 2.1 percent of overall current contracts of Arab importing countries. Further, Lebanon accounted for 3 percent of current investment contracts and for 0.8 percent of current export credit contracts.

Finally, Lebanon ranked in fifth place among 17 Arab countries in terms of total outstanding commitments, which represents the value of investments executed for investment guaranteed contracts and the value of shipments executed, but not yet repaid, of export credit insurance contracts.

Lebanon’s total outstanding commitments reached $12.3 million, accounting for 3 percent of the total of all countries concerned. – The Daily Star.

© Copyright The Daily Star 2010.