The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), signed a trade finance agreement with Uzbek Industrial and Construction Bank for a total amount of US $15 Million. This will provide Uzbek Industrial and Construction Bank the needed funding to meet the growing demand for Shari’ah Compliant trade finance of its private sector clients, including the SMEs.
This is the second line of Trade Finance Facility extended by ITFC to Uzbek Industrial and Construction Bank,which is a long-standing partner of ITFC in Uzbekistan. The first facility was extended in 2018 for US$ 15 million, which was successfully utilized by the Bank.
This financing is implemented under the US$ 500 million Framework Agreement signed between the Republic of Uzbekistan and ITFC, with private sector support as one of the main areas of cooperation indicated in the Framework Agreement. This facility will aim to support the import and pre-export financing needs of Private Sector, including SMEs, in Uzbekistan.
Since joining ITFC in 2019, Uzbekistan has received trade finance and development support across key sectors including agriculture, the private sector, and SMEs..The private sector clients and SMEs have been supported under 17 Line of Trade Finance Facilities totaling an amount of USD166 million.
Mr. Abdihamid Aweis Abu, General Manager, Trade Finance signed the partnership on behalf of ITFC with Mr. Shukhrat Yakubov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of the Uzbek Industrial and Construction Bank.
Commenting on the agreement, Mr. Abdihamid said: “This new agreement reaffirms ITFC’s commitment in its long-standing partnership with the Uzbek Industrial and Construction Bank and we are confident in the good prospects of our working relation with the bank. We are focused on supporting the private sector, especially SMEs in their post-Covid recovery. ..”