RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's Export-Import Bank (EXIM) helped businesses export to 50 countries by the end of September, with food, iron and steel, and plastics products leading the way.
EXIM announced it had approved 89 finance requests — up from 81 by mid-August — with a total value exceeding SR8.95 billion ($2.3 billion).
Small and medium enterprises constituted 51 percent of the total applications, SPA reported.
The CEO of Saudi EXIM Bank, Saad Alkhalb told Al Arabiya in an interview that the bank had already launched nine financing products to facilitate Saudi businessmen.
Exports reached 50 countries by the end of September compared to 46 in mid-August, led by China and India, the bank said.
The most prominent sectors that benefited from the bank’s products are food products by 24 percent, iron and steel by 10.5 percent and rubber and plastics by 8.4 percent.
Alkhalb said that the bank is now focussed on launching insurance products for local financial institutions and exporters.
“We aim to issue insurance documents amounting to SR500 million in the next 6 months,” he said .
He said the bank follows a model that enables local exporters to do their work conveniently.
