Middle East Trade & Export Finance Forum

Event Review

Exporta's fourth annual two-day Middle East Trade & Export Finance Forum was hailed as another success by the sponsors, speakers and participants alike.

With an unprecedented level of sponsors - lead sponsor JPMorgan and co-sponsors FirstCity, Clyde and Co, Coface, China Systems, ICIEC, Calyon - this year's event was well supported and attracted in excess of 120 high calibre participants.

With discussions on day one covering risk outlook for the Middle East, with indepth look at Saudi Arabia, Libya, Lebanon and Iraq. The market perceptions and opportunities in trade were covered, as well as the corporate viewpoint.  Day two looked closely at the DIFC, Islamic finance structures and banking as well as Swift TSU, UCP 600 and Basel II.

The all important networking opportunities included longer lunch breaks and an evening reception at the end of day one, sponsored by Fortis, held in the gardens of the impressive Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

The date for Exporta's fifth annual Middle East Trade & Export Finance Forum in Dubai will be announced shortly and if you are interested in sponsorship opportunities, please email rmorrison@exportagroup.com.  

Delegate comments:

Great selection of topics - truly multi-cultural and given us plenty of new ideas to consider.
Dell

Informative, well organised, great venue, outstanding speakers and friendly and helpful management.
Arab Banking Corporation BSC

This forum provided an excellent opportunity to update myself on important issues related to trade finance area, in particular, and global trends in general.  It also provided very valuable networking opportunities with trade professionals and business leaders.
Commercial Bank of Qatar

The right forum for the experts from finance, banking and insurance sectors to share theire intellectual ideas and comments to lay the foundation of the vision that GCC has set.
National General Insurance Co.

Description

Exporta's event offers the chance to learn more about Islamic finance, commodity finance, structuring deals and financial solutions, regional risk overviews, Basel II and its impact as well as hear the corporate viewpoint.

With a line-up of expert speakers and highly esteemed institutions planning to attend, the event promises an unrivalled networking opportunity with an evening cocktail reception at the end of day one in the beautiful grounds of the five star Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

Download the brochure now to review the speakers and book your place at this key event for the Middle East region.

Event Photos

Brochure

Programme

08.30 Registration

09.00 Chairman's introduction
Len Casley, Senior Executive Officer, JPMorgan Dubai

09.20 Keynote speaker
Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Chief Executive Officer, Mashreq Bank

Regional trading overview

09.40 Middle East hotspots
Zaineb Al Assam, Head of Middle East Division, Exclusive Analysis
• Violent and political risks to trade and project finance
• War and terrorism risks to air, marine and ground cargo
• Risks and opportunities in extractive industries and infrastructure development
• Political reform and regime stability in North Africa and the Gulf
• Iran and Iraq risk scenarios

10.10 Saudi Arabia and Libya: risk outlook
Martin Stone, Head of Middle East & Africa Practice, The Risk Advisory Group
• Saudi Arabia
- How real are the West"s concerns about the succession, education and unemployment?
- How effective have the government's efforts been at attracting foreign investment?
- Has the country"s WTO membership changed the environment?
• Libya
- How far have the business and political risks improved since rapprochement with the West?
- Is the Gadhafi family as firmly in control as it appears?

10.40 Lebanon's international trade: challenges and opportunities
Wafica Ghoul, Professor of Finance, Holy Spirit University (USEK), Lebanon
• Economic environment following summer 2006 hostilities
• Risks and rewards of doing business in Lebanon
• Consumers' attitude towards foreign goods and services

11.10 Networking break

11.40 Update on the economic and political situation in Iraq
Hussein Al-Uzri, President, Trade Bank of Iraq
• Iraqi financial sector
• Deals case studies
• Outlook for Iraq

Insuring against Middle East risk

12.10 Middle East trade risks: market perceptions and opportunities
Toby Heppel, Partner, First City
• What is the trade risk insurance market,and what does it do?
• From country of risk to country of the policyholder: changing perceptions in the insurance market
• Western insurers and Islamic trade finance
• Using the market

12.50 Mastering the A/R cycle in the Middle East
David Venediger, Country Manager, Coface Middle East Services
• Client targetting/rating
• A/R protection/sales development
• Financing receivables and growth
• Receivables management

13.30 Lunch

Financing trade

14.50 Trade central: the crossroads of trade
Jeremy Shaw, Senior Vice-President, JPMorgan
• Developing Middle East trends
• New channels and trade lanes
• Global trade management

Legal issues: managing trade risks

15.30 Credit where credit’s due: have recent legal and regulatory developments in the trade arena helped or hindered management of risk in the Middle East?
Robert Parson, Partner, Clyde & Co
• Basel II and control of goods: the new order for transactional security
• Sanctions regimes: walking on cracks
• Documentary and standby credits: post UCP 600 legal issues
• Latest market trends and issues

16.20 Networking break

Corporate views on trade/commodity and export opportunities

16.50 Corporate expectations of trade finance services and solutions
Alida Scholtz, Finance Director, Goodyear Middle East FZE
• Effectiveness of corporate banking services
• Application of trade finance to mitigate financial risk, improve working capital structures, but also secure important customer relationships

17.30 Close of day one, followed by cocktail reception sponsored by Fortis Bank

Day Two
Wednesday, February 7, 2007

09.15 Keynote speaker
Nasser H. Saidi, Chief Economist, Dubai International Financial Centre

Commodity finance opportunities

10.00 The rise of Dubai as the regional centre for commodities
David Rutledge, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC)
• Why Dubai as a commodities centre? What sets it apart?
• Dubai government incentives for domiciled companies
• Dubai’s infrastructure for commodities trade and what the future holds
• Scope of the DMCC and aims/strategy; record so far and plans

Islamic finance

10.30 The role of export credit and political risk insurance in mitigating risks in Islamic finance structures
Abdel Rahman Taha, General Manager, ICIEC
• Role of ICIEC
• Risk management tools of ICIEC
• Case studies

11.00 Networking break

11.30 Islamic banking in trade finance
Saad Rahman, Director Islamic Banking, Calyon
• Analysis of Islamic banking finance structures in trade finance
• Key issues for consideration by conventional banks
• Innovations is Islamic trade finance

Investment in Middle East

12.00 Multilateral risk mitigation in trade and export finance
Bonnie Galat, Head of Marketing and Sales, Global Trade Finance Program, International Finance Corporation (IFC)
and
Trade facilitation programmes: real life innovation in emerging markets
Vincent O’Brien, First Director, EBSI

Trade services

12.40 Open account trade: can SWIFT TSU do anything for you?
Joel Schrevens, Solutions Director, China Systems
• Trade Services Utility (TSU): what does it do and why is it different to other initiatives?
• What opportunities does TSU offer for financial institutions and what are the keys to success?
• What is China Systems doing to enable banks to benefit from these opportunities?

13.20 Lunch

14.40 Basel II and Middle East trade finance
Rohit Kumar, Project Manager - Basel II, National Bank of Abu Dhabi
• Overview of Basel II
• The effects on Middle East trade finance
• The impact on banks in the region

15.20 UCP 600 update
Yacoub Sifri, Senior Consultant, J Sifri Consulting Services
• Introduction to UCP 600
• New banking practices under the UCP 600
• UCP 600 impact on operations risk management in banking
• General comparison between the UCP 500 and UCP 600

16.00 Chairman’s close of conference and final networking break

Venue

Accommodation

A preferential rate has been negotiated for you at Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

Upon registration a booking code will be provided so you may take advantage of a special discount available at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

Sponsors

Sponsorship opportunities including exhibition stands are available for this event.

To become a sponsor, please contact Tom Whitehead, Head of Sponsorship Sales at twhitehead@exportagroup.com.

Exporta's events have a global reputation, renowned for superb networking opportunities and educational presentations by high-profile speakers.

Time after time our events attract the leading companies in our market as sponsors.

See below for a full list of our Event Sponsors, Institutional Partners and Media Partners and click on the logo to visit their web site. 

Delegate Packs