Iranian, Finnish ECAs Sign Wide-Ranging Agreement

Export Guarantee Fund of Iran signed an agreement with Finland’s state-owned export credit agency, Finnvera, on the sidelines of the Berne Union Spring Meeting in Copenhagen.

The agreement was signed by Kamal Seyyed Ali, the head of EGFI, and Topi Vesteri, Finnerva’s deputy CEO, to expand the two entities’ cooperation in co-insurance, reinsurance, credit assessment, claims prevention and recovery of debts that help the exporters of both countries, EGFI’s Public Relations Office reported on Tuesday.

During the meeting, Seyyed Ali called for upgrading Iran’s risk rating, “which is not satisfactory at present”.

The OECD has classified Iran at Level 6, though Iranian officials expect an upgrade to 4.

Topi Vesteri, who is also the president of the Berne Union, said the related committees would consider positive factors of Iran’s economy for assessing the risk ranking.  He was also hopeful about expansion of commercial ties between Iran and Finland in the future, with the help of both countries’ banks.

The Berne Union Spring Meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, was held on May 15-17.

Iran became a member of the Berne Union in May 2016, when the union and Prague Club agreed to form a new global association for export credit and investment insurer.