Index for November 2011

Volume 10, Issue 11

  • ECA Watch submissions to 14 Nov OECD ECWG meeting

    (ECA Watch, Brussels, 8 November 2011) ECA Watch presented two sumissions to the 14 November OECD Export Credit Working Group CSO consultation covering our comments on both the Common Approaches and the Sector Understanding on renewable energy, climate change mitigation and water projects.
  • (Aviation Week, New York, 17 November 2011) The Air Transport Association (ATA) is suing the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. to stop $3.4 billion in loan guarantees the bank is offering to Air India for the purchase of Boeing aircaft... ATA argues the loan guarantees would harm the U.S. airline industry by providing Air India access to aircraft at more favorable financing rates than those available to U.S. carriers. Furthermore, this loan would increase available seats on routes that U.S. airlines serve, putting the U.S. industry at a competitive disadvantage, which is a dereliction of the Ex-Im Bank’s mandate, ATA claims.
  • Eurodad report on ECAs and debt to be released 6 December

    (Eurodad, Brussels, 30 November 2011) On 6 December, the day of the Council Working Group on Export Credits meeting in Brussels, Eurodad will launch its new report "Exporting goods or exporting debts? Export Credit Agencies and the roots of developing country debt". The report can be downloaded at www.eurodad.org as from 6 December. It shows how the majority of developing country debt owed to European governments is a result of export credits, and puts a figure to the share of European governments' debt relief actually being relief of export credit debt. The report argues that stronger responsible finance standards must be put in place for ECAs, including on tax issues.
  • (Financial Express, New Delhi, 17 November 2011) To ensure higher export credit exposure, the Cabinet on Wednesday cleared amendments to the existing law for increasing the authorised capital of the Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) besides strengthening the management structure of the financial institution. The announcement can be found here.
  • (Friends of the Earth Japan, Tokyo, 18 November 2011) On August 5th the Japanese government approved continuation of its policy of exporting nuclear power plants, saying: “Importing countries are primarily responsible for assurance of the safety of nuclear power plants” and “If other countries desire to adopt Japanese nuclear power technology... we believe we should provide those with the highest safety standard in the world.” FoE Japan notes that "Without completing the review of the causes of the Fukushima accident and without sufficient nation-wide debate, the Japan's promotion of nuclear exports is clearly a double standard and a mistake." Meanwhile, UK engineering firm Atkins has been retained by the United Arab Emirates as a technical adviser for lenders and will advise a combination of private lenders involved in the project, including export credit agencies and an array of commercial banks.
  • (Ukranian Journal, Kiev, 3 November 2011) The Ukrainian government is planning to create an export-credit agency to support national exports. The initiative is stipulated in draft law No. 9373 on the state financial support of exports, which was registered in Parliament on November 1. "The creation is foreseen of a state-run financial enterprise – a export-credit agency created in the form of a public joint-stock company by the state in the person of the Ukrainian cabinet - to secure Ukrainian exporters from commercial and non-commercial risks and to provide guarantees of the fulfillment of liabilities under foreign economic agreements by foreign buyers," reads the bill.
  • (Oxfam Australia, Melbourne, November 2011) This report documents the process and outcomes of the LNG Impact Listening Project, which brought together civil society and community-based organisations working in 4 villages affected by the Exxon ECA supported LNG Project in Central Province, Papua New Guinea... Due to its size and exposure in Papua New Guinea, the PNG LNG Project has raised high expectations. Its impact on communities has led to tensions over land (often grounded in older disputes), and brought the need for communities to organise themselves in new ways...
  • (Oman Daily Observer, Muscat, 21 November 2011) Oman's Export Credit Guarantee Agency SAOC (ECGA) hosted the bi-annual meeting of the Prague Club at the Crowne Plaza Muscat last week. The three-day workshop and meeting, which began on November 14, was attended by representatives of national and multilateral Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) from 37 countries including Oman and the Secretariat of the Berne Union. The Prague Club operates under the auspices of the Berne Union based in London.
  • (Jakarta Post, Jakarta, 17 November 2011) Indonesia Eximbank, also known as the Export Financing Agency, said that the palm oil industry accounted for most of its buyers’ credit amid the company’s efforts to diversify its financing disbursement... Eximbank senior managing director Arifin Indra said that the company expected growing credit disbursement despite the possible impact of the Euro debt crisis and economic slowdown in the US.
  • (IEWY News, Brussels, 23 November 2011) The European Commission has concluded that a Portuguese scheme providing short-term credit insurance, including export credit insurance, significantly below market price was in breach of EU rules as it distorted competition with rivals in Portugal and exporters elsewhere in the EU. Portugal needs to recover from the beneficiaries the difference between the premium level charged under the scheme and the market price between the beginning of 2009 and the end of 2010. It shows once again the importance of obtaining clearance under the EU state aid rules prior to implementation.
  • (Kaieteur News, Georgetown, 20 November 2011) After vehemently denying claims that it approves contracts, the government of Guyana was forced to admit that it approved the airport expansion project for which it secretly signed a deal with a Chinese firm, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC). The deal was signed Novmeber 16 and the China Exim Bank is putting US$138 million ($27.6 billion) in financing. The government hasd chided the company for releasing details of the project and blocked it from speaking to the media.
  • (Telegraph, London, 10 November 2011) The Government has torn up its sixth-month-old small business export assistance targets in the face of the weakening economy, trade minister Lord Green has said... The Export Credit Guarantee Department, which insures exporters against the risk of their overseas customers failing to pay, is also to be rebranded as UK Export Finance.