Kazakhstan creates Export Credit Agency

ASTANA. April 16 (Interfax) - Export Insurance Company KazakhExport JSC has been changed to an Export Credit Agency and renamed Export Credit Agency of Kazakhstan JSC (ECA), the company said in a press release.

This is in keeping with the government's resolution dated April 8, 2024.

Export Credit Agency will function as a national institute for development and promotion of non-resource exports.

By creating Export Credit Agency, the government will expand measures to support non-resource exports. In addition to the previous functions of KazakhExport, which include insurance and reinsurance, pre-export and export trade financing, the newly created Agency will also provide such services as guarantees on export operations and the subsidizing of interest rates on trade financing, according to the press release.

The guarantees that the Agency will provide for export operations will allow Kazakhstan's exporters to participate in international bidding processes and will help increase sales of Kazakh goods and services in foreign markets.

In January 2024, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a law on amendments to some legislative acts aimed to increase exports of non-resource goods. The amendments provided for the creation of an export and credit agency, which would be organized as a joint stock company, wholly owned by the government of the republic.

Export Insurance Company KazakhExport JSC used to be a subsidiary of Kazakhstan's National Management Holding Company Baiterek, operating as an export and credit agency that provided financial support for Kazakh exporters.