Efforts Aim to Boost Arab Exports to Russia

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Port on the Red Sea coast north of Jeddah is seen here in an undated photo. [Saudi Press Agency]

The Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman) said it is ready to boost trade and investment cooperation between Arab states and Russia through its diverse insurance, information and research services.

This came in a worksheet presented by Head of Research and Publishing Unit Ahmed Eldabaa on behalf of Dhaman’s Director-General Abdullah Ahmad al-Sabeeh in the opening session of the Russian-Arab Business Council, which kicked off on Tuesday at the Dubai EXPO Exhibition Center.

Asharq Al-Awsat received a copy of the sheet, which pointed out that the Arab-Russian ties have witnessed various developments over the past decades. Some periods were booming and prosperous while others were stagnant due to many political and economic factors.

The sheet revealed that the value of Russian-Arab trade ties stood at $14.7 billion, according to UNCTAD data, during the period between 2011 and 2020. This represents 2.1% of Russia’s foreign trade volume and 0.8% of the Arab countries' foreign trade volume in the Mediterranean.

According to the database of foreign direct investment projects in the world (FDI Markets), the cost of new Russian direct investment projects in the Arab countries amounted to about $64.4 billion dollars during the period between 2003 and 2021, which represents 5% of the volume of foreign project investments in the region.

While the investment cost of Arab direct investment projects in Russia amounted to $3.8 billion, which represents one percent of all foreign investment projects in Russia.

Dhaman underlined the importance of resorting to specialized insurance services for exports, investment and financing against commercial and political risks, as a key means to bolster investment, trade and financing cooperation.

It further indicated that it provides insurance cover for existing and new Russian investments in the countries of the region against non-commercial risks, such as confiscation, nationalization, wars, civil unrest, breach of contract by the state and ban on money transfer.

Dhaman is a pioneer multinational organization that has provided guarantee services against commercial and non-commercial risks for the past four decades.

Established in April 1974 in Kuwait as the first multilateral investment guarantee provider in the world, Dhaman is owned by the governments of Arab states and four Arab financial institutions.