UAE, Egypt Sign Reinsurance Agreement to Bolster Trade and Economic Cooperation

UAE, Egypt Sign Reinsurance Agreement to Bolster Trade and Economic Cooperation
TT

UAE, Egypt Sign Reinsurance Agreement to Bolster Trade and Economic Cooperation

UAE, Egypt Sign Reinsurance Agreement to Bolster Trade and Economic Cooperation

Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE Federal export credit agency (ECA), and its Egyptian counterpart Export Credit Guarantee of Egypt (EGE) have signed a reciprocal reinsurance agreement to support Emirati and Egyptian projects in their respective countries as well as their collaborative initiatives around the world.

The agreement between the two state-owned firms will strengthen trade and economic cooperation as well as boost exports.

The broad range of trade credit insurance amongst these two entities will help anticipate and mitigate risks they might encounter due to various political, commercial, and non-commercial reasons.

It follows the alliance formed between ECI and EGE at the end of 2019, which propelled non-oil trade to surge despite the challenging economic cycle triggered by pandemic fallout.

Massimo Falcioni, CEO of ECI, commented on the strategic collaboration between his organization and EGE: "The Emirates have maintained a strong, historical bilateral relationship with Egypt since its establishment, and their non-oil trade relations have also remained strong."

“Deepening our existing partnership, this reinsurance agreement will give rise to unparalleled trading opportunities for local businesses to improve their regional and global competitiveness."

In the meantime, Managing Director and General Manager of EGE Mohamed Azzam stated: "The UAE has always been our leading trading partner in the region, with significant mutual business cooperation prevailing among the citizenry of both nations for a long time."

The UAE's Ministry of Economy reports that non-oil trade between the UAE and Egypt amounted to AED 25.8 billion in 2020, a 14.34 percent increase over AED 22.1 billion in 2019, demonstrating a solid and enduring strategic relationship between the two countries.



US Economy Grows at 3.1% Pace in 3rd Quarter, an Upgrade from Previous Estimate

FILE PHOTO: A sailboat passes by the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, in New York City, US, September 20, 2024.  REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A sailboat passes by the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, in New York City, US, September 20, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
TT

US Economy Grows at 3.1% Pace in 3rd Quarter, an Upgrade from Previous Estimate

FILE PHOTO: A sailboat passes by the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, in New York City, US, September 20, 2024.  REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A sailboat passes by the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, in New York City, US, September 20, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

The American economy grew at a healthy 3.1% annual clip from July through September, propelled by vigorous consumer spending and an uptick in exports, the government said in an upgrade to its previous estimate.
Third-quarter growth in US gross domestic product — the economy's output of goods and services — accelerated from the April-July rate of 3% and continued to look sturdy despite high interest rates, the Commerce Department said Thursday. GDP growth has now topped 2% in eight of the last nine quarters.
Consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of US economic activity, expanded at a 3.7% pace, fastest since the first quarter of 2023 and an uptick from Commerce’s previous third-quarter estimate of 3.5%, The Associated Press reported.
Exports climbed 9.6%. Business investment grew a lackluster 0.8%, but investment in equipment expanded 10.8%. Spending and investment by the federal government jumped 8.9%, including a 13.9% surge in defense spending.
American voters were unimpressed by the steady growth under Democratic President Joe Biden. Exasperated by prices that remain 20% higher than they were when an inflationary surge began in early 2021, they chose last month to send Donald Trump back to the White House with Republican majorities in the House and Senate.
Trump will inherit an economy that looks healthy overall. The unemployment rate remains low at 4.2% even though it is up from the 53-year low 3.4% reached in April 2023. Inflation hit a four-decade high 9.1% in mid-2002. Eleven interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in 2022 and 2023 helped bring it down — to 2.7% last month. That is above the Fed's 2% target. But the central bank still felt comfortable enough with the progress against inflation to cut its benchmark rate Wednesday for the third time this year.
Within the GDP data, a category that measures the economy’s underlying strength rose at a solid 3.4% annual rate from July through September, an upgrade from the previous estimate and up from 2.7% in the April-June quarter. This category includes consumer spending and private investment but excludes volatile items like exports, inventories and government spending.
Wednesday’s report also contained some encouraging news on inflation. The Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge — called the personal consumption expenditures index, or PCE — rose at just a 1.5% annual pace last quarter, down from 2.5% in the second quarter. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core PCE inflation was 2.2%, up modestly from the previous estimate but down from 2.8% in the April-June quarter.
Thursday's report was the Commerce Department's third and final look at third-quarter GDP. It will publish its initial estimate of October-December growth on Jan. 30.