This autumn, the French public investment bank has signed two new agreements with foreign institutions: one with Etihad Credit Insurance (UAE), and another one with CORFO (Chile). These MoU deepen ties between Bpifrance and these institutions and offer new opportunities for their respective entrepreneurial ecosystem.

 

Increasing cooperation in Middle East

On October 2nd 2021, Bpifrance signed an agreement with Etihad Credit Insurance, the UAE’s export credit agency. On the occasion of the World Expo in Dubai, Massimo Falcioni, CEO of ECI and François Lefebvre, general manager of Bpifrance Assurance Export, the French export credit agency, concluded this MoU.

It aims at several objectives:

• Increasing the support given to French and Emirati joint projects in export.
• Consolidating commercial and economic cooperation between France and the United Arab Emirates.
• Offering insurance solutions for export to French and Emirati companies to stimulate their exportations in third countries.

“Over the past few years, these bilateral links have made a significant jump” notes Massimo Falcioni. Indeed, France and the UAE have developed tight links to the point that the UAE have become the second commercial partner of France in the Persian Gulf.

“This new partnership will strengthen commercial ties between France and the UAE and will allow our respective firms, especially SMEs, to reach out more easily to the long and unique assortment of credit solutions concerning export given by the two agencies” said Pedro Novo, Executive Director in charge of Export at Bpifrance.

 

Reinforce a pre-existent deal in South America

In November 2021, the French public investment bank signed a cooperation agreement with CORFO, the Production Development Corporation in Chile. This is the renewal of a pre-existent MoU concluded in 2018. The signature occurred on the occasion of CORFO Executive Vice-President Pablo Terrazas’ European tour, meanwhile Pascal Lagarde, Executive Director of Bpifrance in charge of strategy, development, international affairs and ESG.

This agreement is expected to reach out various objectives:

• Bpifrance and CORFO want to promote French and Chilean business opportunities to present or interested SMEs by Chile and France.
• The two institutions would finance international collaborative projects, the French public investment bank would pay for the French part of the projects and CORFO, the Chilean part.
• It will reinforce their use of EuroQuity, an online plateform created by Bpifrance to connect companies with potential investors and partners.

This MoU represents a real opportunity for French societies since, as pointed out by Pascal Largarde, “Chile is a major destination for French companies in Latin America with hight-quality infrastructures, a potential growth, natural rich resources and a strong orientation towards sustainable development that we also share.”

Both countries grant importance to decarbonised economy and are convinced that green hydrogen is an essential lever to achieve that goal. Chile is a hydrogen productor meanwhile Bpifrance is committed to support companies’ growth in this field. As a result, both parties have naturally agreed to carry out actions such as international events, webinars, and export missions to further develop this green resource.