Ex-Im Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation Sign Co-financing Agreement to Facilitate U.S., Japanese Export Sales
WASHINGTON, D.C. —- Officials from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) today signed a co-financing agreement that will facilitate future export transactions involving companies in both the United States and Japan.
The agreement enables Ex-Im and JBIC to provide "one-stop-shop" export finance services to buyers in third countries purchasing both U.S. and Japanese goods and services. The two nations' export credit agencies (ECAs) will provide a one-stop-shop financing package, creating administrative efficiencies for foreign buyers. The agreement complements one signed in 2004 between Ex-Im Bank and Japan's Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI).
Chief Operating Officer and Senior Managing Director Fumio
Hoshi (Ex-Im Bank photo)
JBIC Chief Operating Officer and Senior Managing Director Fumio Hoshi, representing JBIC Governor Hiroshi Okuda and Ex-Im Senior Vice President for Policy James C. Cruse, representing Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg, signed the agreement at Ex-Im's headquarters in Washington, D.C..
"This arrangement paves the way for Ex-Im Bank and JBIC to co-finance projects, enabling exporters in both the U.S. and Japan to select the best mix of price and technology to strengthen their overseas bids and support jobs," said Hochberg. "At the same time, exporters will be able to provide their buyers with only one set of terms and conditions covering both countries' exports."
JBIC is a policy-based financial institution of Japan, and conducts lending, investment and guarantee operations while complementing the private sector financial institutions.
This is the first "One-Stop Shop" co-financing agreement signed by JBIC with another ECA.
In addition to the JBIC and NEXI co-financing agreements, Ex-Im Bank currently has signed bilateral one-stop-shop agreements with ASHR'A (Israel), Atradius (The Netherlands), Coface (France), ECGD (U.K.), EDC (Canada), EFIC (Australia), EKF (Denmark), Euler Hermes (Germany), and SACE (Italy) and is in discussions with other ECAs to sign additional bilateral agreements. Ex-Im Bank will consider co-financing transactions without a formal bilateral agreement on a case-by-case basis. In fact, Ex-Im Bank has concluded a number of one off co-financing arrangements with GIEK (Norway), H-EXIM (Hungary) and ONDD (Belgium).
About Ex-Im Bank
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past five years (from Fiscal Year 2008), Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers nearly $1.6 billion above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.
Ex-Im Bank approved $35.8 billion in total authorizations in FY 2012 - an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6.1 billion directly supporting small-business export sales - also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an estimated $50 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 255,000 American jobs in communities across the country. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.