Energy and agriculture sectors: ITFC signs $1.2bn Annual Plan in favour of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) signed the $1.2 billion Annual Plan for 2022 in favour of the government of Pakistan, to provide integrated trade solutions to support the energy and agriculture sectors.

The $1.2 billion agreement includes financing the import of essential commodities such as crude oil, refined petroleum products, LNG, food and agricultural products; in addition to implementing trade related technical assistance intervention to ensure trade development impact.

Sources in the Ministry of Economic Affairs told Business Recorder that this is an umbrella facility. Interest rate will be negotiated at the time of the financing agreement.

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The Annual Plan was signed during a ceremony in the ITFC headquarters in Jeddah between the ITFC and a delegation of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EAD), Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Nazeem Noordali, COO, ITFC stated that this annual plan reflects the importance of the longstanding cooperation between the ITFC and the Government of Pakistan “ITFC is continuously working closely with its member countries to meet their requirements through providing integrated solutions that includes financing and capacity building tools that allows for maximizing the development impact of ITFC interventions. We are delighted and we will continue to mobilize financial resources to support Pakistan in its endeavours to achieve its economic targets through our existing Framework Agreement.”

From their side, the EAD delegation, Pakistan expressed their appreciation for the continued support and partnership with the ITFC, and underlined the need for enhanced cooperation through more efficient processes to further promote Islamic trade finance and trade development interventions in Pakistan.

Despite a challenging year in due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the ITFC provided around US$1.1 billion of trade financing in 2021. The ITFC has signed the 4th framework agreement with the Government of Pakistan in June 2021 for US$ 4.5 billion. Since 2008, the ITFC has provided $6.7 billion in favour of the Government of Pakistan.

The ITFC is a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group. Commencing operations in January 2008, the ITFC has provided US$61 billion of financing to OIC member countries, making it the leading provider of trade solutions for these member countries’ needs. With a mission to become a catalyst for trade development for OIC member countries and beyond, the corporation helps entities in member countries gain better access to trade finance and provides them with the necessary trade-related capacity building tools, which would enable them to successfully compete in the global market.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022