Washington, D.C./London, May 22, 2013—At a recent meeting in Washington, D.C., the Berne Union and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, agreed to scale up their collaboration to address the challenging environment for global trade and investment, in a coordinated effort to create new solutions and address shortfalls in financing faced by emerging market borrowers.
Amid continued market uncertainty, financial institutions face ongoing constraints in meeting the trade and export finance needs of developing countries, especially for longer credit terms. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop innovative, sustainable mechanisms to maintain financing for trade and investment in emerging and developing markets.
“Trade is an essential component of global economic growth and helps boost job creation in emerging markets,” said IFC Executive Vice President and CEO Jin-Yong Cai. “Exploring new ways to leverage our complementary capabilities can help unlock the benefits of trade in an uncertain global economic environment.”
Johan Schrijver, President of the Berne Union, said: “IFC and the Berne Union have tremendous potential to support global trade and investment by aligning our efforts and resources, including the significant risk capacity available from the Berne Union members.”
The Berne Union and IFC expect to leverage the synergies of their complementary capabilities to develop and implement practical and effective solutions to meet these urgent needs. Specific proposals will be considered during upcoming meetings of the joint Berne Union-IFC working group.
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. It works 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.
Source: Berne Union
