Sace (Cassa depositi e prestiti Group) and Turk Eximbank, the Turkish export credit agency, announce the signing of an important co-insurance agreement aimed at promoting commercial relations between Italian and Turkish companies.
The agreement was signed by Alessandro Decio, CEO of Sace and Adnan Yildirim, General Manager of Turk Eximbank, during the first Italian-Turkish Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO), in front of the Italian Minister of Economic Development Carlo Calenda and Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci.
The agreement aims to create a risk sharing platform and a legal framework between the two export credit companies in order to promote new operations in a wide range of sectors and projects in third countries in which both large and small are involved and Italian and Turkish medium-sized enterprises.
“With this initiative we expect to generate new transactions in strategic sectors for Italian and Turkish growth – said Alessandro Decio -. And we are delighted to share our experience and our risk-taking ability with a key player like Turk Exim who represents a fundamental partner not only in the country, but throughout the Mediterranean region and in the most promising neighboring markets”.
“Today we sign a new agreement to take our fruitful collaboration with Sace to the next level, which will allow us to support joint export operations and investments in third countries. In particular, we are excited about the partnership opportunities that will arise in those emerging markets that offer the best opportunities for companies in both our countries. With this agreement we will pool our experiences, skills and strengths to make a real contribution to the growth of Turkish and Italian development, encouraging trade and investment between our countries" - said Adnan Yildirim.
Sace and Turk Exim have a long-standing partnership: in the past they have already concluded a collaboration agreement aimed at improving the flow of information and promoting the implementation of projects of common interest, and Sace has provided the Turkish Eca with a technical training program on credit insurance instruments. Furthermore, both export credit companies continued their fruitful collaboration by providing information on current or potential projects of common interest, favoring the exchange of ideas on investment and bilateral trade and on the development of new insurance-financial instruments.
Turkey represents a strategic trading partner for Italy, with exports and investments amounting respectively to 9,6 and 4,1 billion euros last year. A solid bond that is well reflected in Sace's operations: the country is the third largest foreign market in the portfolio with a total exposure of 2,4 billion euros. Looking ahead, the best opportunities for Italian and Turkish companies will come from the projects being studied in the Mediterranean region and in the markets bordering Turkey, particularly in the mechanical engineering, renewable energy, steel, infrastructure and transport sectors.
Italy is also an important trading partner for Turkey, with 7,1 billion euros totaled last year, it is the fourth destination market for Turkish exports. A strong link that is also reflected in the activities of Turk Eximbank: Italy is among the top five foreign countries in the portfolio with a total exposure of 700 million euros concentrated mainly in the automotive sector, which accounts for 33,7% on Turkish exports to Italy.
In 2016, the volume of trade between the two countries increased, totaling 16,7 billion euros, but there is still great growth potential to be seized by favoring both Italy-Turkey bilateral relations and the partnership between Sace and Turk Eximbank.
