Written by: Soad Mohamed Salih Khartoum/ 29/3/ Suna/ The Arab trade financing program , head quartered in Abudahabi, is a joint financial institution aimed at contributing in the development of the Arab trade and the enhancement of the productive capacities for
both the producers and the Arab sources. The program is made to provide services and finance to the workers in the trade sectors
Within this context , and for the Sudan to benefit from this program a symposium will be held on the 5th of next April at Alsalam Rotana hotel to review the Arab Trade financing program and its role in the development of the Arab trade
The symposium will be organized by the Arab Monetary Fund headquartered at Abudahabi in cooperation with the central Bank of Sudan. The symposium aimed at reviewing the Arab trade financing program and explaining and showing all the possibilities of its successes and the potentials to be provided by the program to enhance the Arab - Arab trade, beside developing the Arab economy including the private sector. The General Secretary of the Sudanese Businessmen Union , Bakry Yousif Omar hailed the program contributions in the development of the Arab economy and trade and called on the Sudanese private sector to benefit from this opportunity. The Arab trade financing program was established in 1989 at a paid capital amounting to 500 million USD with the contribution of 44 Arab institutions including Arab funds and joint financial Arab institutions , public and private banks, beside joint foreign financial institutions. The objectives of the program are represented in contributing in development of the trade exchange programs in the Arab source commodities by providing the needed finance for the trade operations which are qualified for competition according to a set up pre- conditions through its approved national agencies, beside providing information services on the trade and trade processes to the concerned people and bodies in the Arab states
The program has also established a joint project with the United Nations Development Program(UNDP) with the technical cooperation of the International Trade Center (ITC) by establishing the Arab trade information network to provide the main center with the basic information on the Arab trade and this include the exporters, importers, Arab markets , exchange rate, storing , shipment, and transportation, and any other services
The network will also update the information continuously to enable the center to introduce any new changes and amendments at the regional level and to provide it for the beneficiaries in all the Arab states at the same time and regularly. The national agencies are considered the channels through which the program provides its financing services represented in the banks and the financial institutions working in the Arab states and some of the foreign countries working in cooperation with the financial institutions in their countries
the exporter and importers of Arab commodities could benefit from the program finance by presenting an application to the national agency which in turn will present the application to the program to refinance the credit determined by the agent. It is to mention that the Arab trade financing program had announced holding a meeting in Beirut the Lebanese capital to be attended by all the exporters and importers working in the agricultural sector both the animal and cultivation sectors next May to establish partnerships and to conclude agreements between these two sectors to enable the program to provide the finance for these sectors and to contribute in increasing the trade exchange programs in the Arab world