JEDDAH, 23 April 2007 — Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), an affiliate of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), said that it has recorded $1.4 billion export credit and investment insurance commitments last year, an increase of over 70 percent from the preceding year. This brought the cumulative insurance commitments approved by ICIEC to $3.8 billion since its inception.
At its 46th meeting held at the IDB headquarters here recently, ICIEC board of directors, also approved the annual report and audited financial statements.
The board also noted the rise in claims paid by ICIEC to its policyholders which reached $4 million, bringing the total cumulative claims paid to $23.8 million with recoveries totaling $9.8 million.
The board addressed the issue of expanding the insurance capacity of ICIEC to enable it to cater to the increasing demand by member countries for its credit and country risks insurance services and agreed to refer the issue to the audit committee of the board for further study.
Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Ali, president of ICIEC and the IDB Group, said that the impressive increase in the volume of business of ICIEC was a result of the aggressive marketing strategy undertaken by the corporation which increased the awareness of exporters in member countries in the value of export credit insurance in protecting the credit facilitation they offer to buyers in foreign countries.
He pointed out that the expansion in the credit and country risk insurance services offered by ICIEC took place simultaneously with a marked improvement in the balance and quality of its risk portfolio and a significant increase in the portion of underwritten risks ceded to reinsurance in the international market.