Asia and the Pacific

PICC challenges Sinosure monopoly in Chinese short-term export credit

(Business Insurance, New York, 15 January 2013) PICC Property & Casualty Co. is set to challenge the China Export & Credit Insurance Corp.’s (Sinosure) monopoly in the short-term export credit insurance business after becoming the first insurer to secure the Finance Ministry’s approval to provide short-term export credit insurance from Jan. 1, 2013.
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China: Export credit coverage exceeds $300 billion in 2012

(Business Insurance, New York, 24 January 2013) China's export credit insurance and overseas investment insurance coverage increased 35.8% to $318.23 billion in 2012... According to data from the China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure), the insurance protection covered 14.3% of China's total exports, which is higher than the general average of 10%.
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New report concerned Australian Government put profits before PNG welfare

(Jubilee Australia, Sydney, 12 December 2012) This investigative report by Jubilee Australia highlights circumstances, events and impacts associated with Exxon Mobil’s US $19 billion Gas Project in Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Southern Highlands, which has up to $400 million of Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) support.
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India's Government Auditor criticizes ECA ECGC for inadequate controls

(Business Standard, New Delhi, 5 December 2012) Government auditor CAG today pulled up Export Credit Guarantee Corporation for not having proper arrangements with banks to finance exporters resulting in a loss of about Rs 310 crore (US$56.6 million) during the period between 2008-09 and 2010-11. Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd (ECGC), which comes under the administrative control of the Commerce Ministry, provides export credit insurance cover to exporters and banks.

Lawsuit targets US Ex-Im LNG fossil fuel project threatening Great Barrier Reef

(Pacific Environment, San Francisco, 13 December 2012) Conservation groups filed a lawsuit today challenging the U.S. Export-Import Bank’s nearly $3 billion in financing for a massive Australian fossil fuel facility in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Construction and operation of the liquefied natural gas facility will threaten sea turtles, dugongs and many other protected marine species, as well as the Great Barrier Reef itself.
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Business credit insurance emerges as new Chinese tool

(China Daily, Hong Kong, 15 December 2012) The mainland trade credit insurance industry has been developing rapidly. Export credit insurance is one kind of trade insurance which exporters purchase to yield financial protection in case of any default by overseas buyers or mainland producers. In 2011, export credit insurance's underwriting amount on the mainland reached $216.24 billion, accounting for 11.4 percent of the country's total export amount in the same period and also much higher than the international average.

US & China establish multilateral ECA working group on international guidelines

(US Treasury Dept., Washington, 4 May 2012) In February 2012, the United States and China established an international working group of major OECD and non-OECD providers of export financing to make concrete progress towards a set of international guidelines on the provision of official export financing that, taking into account varying national interests and situations, are consistent with international best practices, with the goal of concluding an agreement by 2014.
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First Guidance on Social Responsibility of China’s International Project Contracting Industry

(Ministry of Commerce, Beijing, 29 September 2012) The first Guidance on Social Responsibility of China’s International Project Contracting Industry has been officially released. Prepared by China International Contractors Association under the direction of the Ministry of Commerce, the Guidance is the first standard for voluntary social responsibility of the international project contracting industry.
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Italian export-credit agency SACE opens Mumbai office

(Gazzetta del Sud, New Delhi, 30 November 2012) Italy's export-credit agency SACE has opened an office in the Indian economic capital Mumbai, the financial and insurance group said on Friday. The office is to act as a hub for the South Asian markets of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. SACE currently has an exposure of around one billion euros on the Indian market.
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Beijing to increase export credit insurance to small companies

  (Hong Kong Standard, Hong Kong, 13 September 2012) Beijing said yesterday it will pay back export tax rebates faster and grant more loans to exporters, as well as increase export credit insurance to small companies, in the latest move to prop up the country's economy. 
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