Evaluatierapport (PDF, 6.47 MB) - Buitenlandse Zaken - Belgium

FINEXPO EVALUATION
A - Federal Belgian foreign trade institutions
Belgium counts on three federal players to support exports: the Agency for Foreign
Trade, the FINEXPO committee and the National Delcredere Office.
The Agency for Foreign Trade
The Agency for Foreign Trade, which supersedes the Belgian Foreign Trade Office
(OBCE/BDBH), has been running since March 2003. The Agency is defined as a “service
centre” for regional institutions promoting foreign trade, and it serves these institutions
directly. The Agency is responsible for: a) deciding on and organising joint trade missions
on the initiative of one or more Regions or at the request of the federal authorities; b)
organising, compiling and disseminating information, studies and documentation on
foreign markets for regional services responsible for foreign trade; c) tasks of common
interest decided unanimously by the Board of Directors.
FINEXPO
The FINEXPO Committee (with regional representation) aims, through its notices, to
provide financial assistance to Belgian exporters who wish to launch projects in the fields
of infrastructure and associated services. To this end, FINEXPO has five instruments:
mechanisms to stabilize interest rates (a purely commercial instrument), state-to-state
loans and interest credits (instruments granting concessional assistance and subject to
OECD regulations on export credits with or without a grant component), and pure
donation.
From 1997 to 2004, the State-to-State loans budget was allocated to the FPS finance and
the budget for interest subsidies to the FPS Foreign Affairs. Since 2004, the budget of the
three concessional tools has been officially integrated into the Directorate General for
Development Cooperation (DGDC) budget. The management of applications is still shared
between the two FPS. A new reform of the budget allocation will take place in 2010; the
FINEXPO budget for interest subsidies, grants, and stabilisations should be allocated to
the SPF Foreign Affairs budget, the budget for State-to-State loans should remain on the
DGCG budget and managed by the SPF Finance.
The National Delcredere Office
The National Delcredere Office (ONDD) is the Belgian public credit insurance company
with a mission to promote international economic relations. The ONDD performs this task
as an autonomous government institution enjoying state guarantee.
The ONDD insures companies and banks against risks related to international commercial
transactions, mainly with respect to capital goods, industrial projects, and contracted
works and services. To cover these risks, the ONDD also works alongside with banks
under risk-sharing schemes. Two major types of risks exist: the political risk (upheaval,
revolution, war, but also natural disasters), and commercial risks (the inability or
unwillingness of the buyer to comply with its obligations). The ONDD also covers foreign
exchange risks and participates in export financing arrangements. To a large extent,
activities focus on non-OECD countries since these markets bear a higher risk to Belgian
exporters and traders (the ONDD does not insure against export risks in all countries in
the world).
The commitments assumed by the ONDD are guaranteed by the State, while part of the
political and the commercial risks assumed around the globe is reinsured internationally.
For that reason, the ONDD is active in credit insurance working groups within the
European Union, the OECD, as well as the Berne Union (International Union of Credit and
Investment Insurers). In addition, the ONDD forms part of the Belgian representation in
the Paris Club, where it considers the export related private sector credit component of
the debt portfolio. The ONDD has set up an array of insurance instruments that can be
see
Final report – Appendix 7 – page 133