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	Overview of the Problems
	Highlight: Russia's Sakhalin II
	Highlight: The BTC Pipeline

What's New! Vol. III, No. 1

December 15, 2003 - January 31, 2004
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The "What's New!" is a periodic email update to keep you informed of the latest uploads onto the website which features a wide range of materials submitted by over 50 NGOs actively participating in the coalition. If you would like to be added onto the recipients list for "What's New!", join ECA-Action, the mailing list that disseminates latest articles, commentaries and announcements around policies and practices of ECAs and ECA-supported projects around the world. To join, simply sign up from the website, www.eca-watch.org today!
Questions? Email info@eca-watch.org
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Items in this issue:- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1 )Request for civil society consultation on OECD ECA Arrangement Review

2 ) ECA-Watch Press Release: Groups Blasts Weak OECD Agreement on Environment

3) Support Walhi's Call for Disclosure of Loan Agreement for Koto Panjang Dam Project

4) Implementation of the ECG's Action Statement Of December 2000 on Export Credit Support

5) Submission of the Australian NGO, Aid/Watch, to the Review of the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) Environmental Guidelines

6 ) New Belgian NGO Website on ECA Reform

7) Secretive ECAs Increasingly Subject to Public Scrutiny

8) Les Exportateurs Sur La Sellette

9) U.S., Allies Set Environment Pact; Boon Is Seen to Overseas

10) US Ex-Im Bank Oks $150 Mln Loan for Caspian Pipeline

11) US Ex-Im Bank Loan to Salvage Textile Company in the U.S. North-East

12) ECAs Financing Business in Iraq

13) JBIC to Back Investments for Azadegan Oil Field in Iran

14) KEXIM Subsidizing South Korea Shipyards

15) Hungary to Subsidize Industrial Exports Through Aid Loans

16) Study of Environmental and Social Standards in Export Credit

17 ) Exim Bank Files Lawsuit Against Asia Pulp and Paper

1) Request for civil society consultation on OECD ECA Arrangement Review: On Feb. 3, 2004, 12 NGOs in the ECA-Watch Network called on the Chair of the Participants of the OECD Export Credit Arrangement to conduct a consultation with civil society regarding its 2004 review and revision of the Arrangement. The NGOs are concerned that, inter alia , the current Arrangement favors coal, oil, gas, and hydro power over renewable sources of energy. View a copy of the letter.

2) ECA-Watch Press Release: Groups Blast Weak OECD Agreement on Environment

A common agreement among Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) reached in November/December at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has been heavily criticized by ECA-Watch, an international network of environment, development, human rights and labour groups. View a copy of the so-called “Recommendation on Common Approaches” in light of recent case studies critiquing many ECA-backed projects: " Race to the Bottom II ."

3) Support Walhi's Call for Disclosure of Loan Agreement for Koto Panjang Dam Project:

http://www.foei.org/cyberaction/kotopanjang.html

The Indonesian NGO, Walhi (Friends of the Earth, Indonesia), is calling for letters to the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) and other financial institutions, demanding disclosure of the loan agreement for the Koto Panjang Dam Project. The call for letters parallels a lawsuit representing approximately 8,400 Sumatrans against ODA for human rights violation and environmental destruction.

4) Implementation of the ECG's Action Statement Of December 2000 on Export Credit Support: Comments on Best Practices Proposals: A Presentation to the ECG: A Presentation to the ECG by Michael H. Wiehen Member of the Advisory Council, Transparency International
November 4, 2003

5) Submission of the Australian NGO, Aid/Watch, to the Review of the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) Environmental Guidelines: http://www.aidwatch.org.au/index.php?current=38

AID/WATCH and the Environmental Defender's Office submission to EFIC concerning the agency's review of its environmental guidelines.

6) New Belgian NGO Website on ECA Reform

http://www.proyectogato.be/exportcreditandinsuranceagencies.htm

The Belgian NGO, Proyecto Gato, has launched a new website on ECA reform. The website goes in detail on the OECD Guidelines, National Contact Point, Common Approaches, with links to reports, letters and others ECA – Watch groups.

ECAs in the News:

7) Secretive ECAs Increasingly Subject to Public Scrutiny
http://www.worldpress.org/Europe/1641.cfm

11 Nov. 2003 Just as World Trade Organization talks at Cancun industrialized democracies meet in Paris to discuss strengthening ecological and human-rights guidelines for ECAs. ECAs' normally secretive operations are being subjected to public scrutiny.

8) Les Exportateurs Sur La Sellette

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/recherche_resumedoc/1,13-0,37-829070,0.html

27 Nov. 2003 Le Monde reports on Export Credit Group Agreement

9) U.S., Allies Set Environment Pact; Boon Is Seen to Overseas

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107110761221485600,00.ht

11 Dec 2003 Wall Street Journal article on Export Credit Group Agreement

10) US Ex-Im Bank Oks $150 Mln Loan for Caspian Pipeline

http://www.forbes.com/business/energy/newswire/2003/12/30/rtr1194354.html

12 Dec. 2003 The U.S. Export Import Bank approved $160 million in repayment loan guarantees to U.S. companies to supply engineering services, control systems, and pump systems to the $3.4 billion Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project.

11) US Ex-Im Bank Loan to Salvage Textile Company in the U.S. North-East

http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=31308

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2065-2004Jan8.html

9 Jan. 2004 U.S. Export-Import Bank gave more favorable terms for a $35 million loan to Malden Mills, a textile company located in Massachusetts whose owners have been trying to pull out of bankruptcy court. Proponents claim the loan could help save 1,200 local jobs.

12) ECAs Financing Business in Iraq

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/business/12_01_04_c.asp

12 Jan. 2004 The Bush administration has assigned $18.6 billion for reconstruction in Iraq, one-third of which will be allocated to mega infrastructure projects, while two-thirds will be spent to carry out projects on health, roads, bridges and other related efforts. The U.S. Ex-Im Bank will issue letters of credit for exporters.

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040105&s=klein

18 Dec. 2003 OPIC is poised to provide political risk insurance to principally U.S. companies to assuage the fears of shell-shocked investors. Ostensibly intended to support U.S. foreign policy, OPIC may leave U.S. taxpayers holding the bag.

13) JBIC to Back Investments for Azadegan Oil Field in Iran

http://www.asahi.com/english/business/TKY200401160144.html

16 Jan. 2004 Japan has proposed extending more than $1 billion in loans to Iran through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation to develop the Azadegan oil field. Azadegan is located near the Iraqi border, is one of the Middle East's largest untapped reserves, and is estimated to hold 26 billion barrels of oil. Firms involved include Inpex Corp., Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Tomen Corp., and Royal Dutch/Shell Group.

14) KEXIM Subsidizing South Korea Shipyards

http://www.eupolitix.com/EN/News/200401/03b281c0-a25c-4ac3-94a6-42ad06309006.htm

16 Jan. 2004 EU regulators to renew laws allowing members to offer aid payments to their shipyards involved in constructing tankers carrying gas, chemicals and containers. The move is a direct result of a legal dispute in which Brussels accuses South Korea of pricing ships below manufacture cost and ‘dumping' them on EU territory. The low prices are due to subsidies arrived through a bi-lateral agreement between the shipyards and state-owned Korean Export-Import Bank (KEXIM).

15) Hungary to Subsidize Industrial Exports Through Aid Loans

http://www.interfax.com/com?item=Hung&pg=0&id=5681383&req =

16 Jan. 2004 The Hungarian Export-Import Bank will provide loans to a list of countries, compiled by the OECD, whose per capita GDP does not exceed USD 3000 per year. The countries will use the loans to finance projects or products supplied by Hungarian exporters.

16) Study of Environmental and Social Standards in Export Credit

December 2003 This study by Ecologic focuses on the incorporation of environmental and social standards into export credit agencies' lending practices associated with large dams. The study was commissioned by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), a government agency.

17) Exim Bank Files Lawsuit Against Asia Pulp and Paper

http://www.exim.gov/pressrelease.cfm/8D1E661E-A307-DFA9-AE7282999A4B618F/

23 October 2003 The U.S Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York filed a lawsuit today on behalf of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) against Asia Pulp & Paper Co., Ltd. (APP) and three of its operating subsidiaries located in Indonesia. Ex-Im Bank is seeking to recover approximately $104 million of credits.

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