The Inter-American Development Bank this week holds a seminar on its Trade Finance Facilitation Program (TFFP), at the headquarters of the People’s Bank of China in Beijing.

Under the TFFP, the IDB provides guarantees to international banks covering their risks on documentary and stand-by letters of credit, promissory notes and other instruments used in the financing of international trade transactions.

The main objective of the program is to strengthen the trade integration of the Latin American and Caribbean countries with the rest of the world.  By participating in the TFFP network, Chinese banks will also benefit from IDB’s support and will enable them to further expand trade finance flows between China and the region.

The event is organized by the IDB Office of Outreach and Partnerships (ORP) and the IDB Structured Corporate Finance Department with the cooperation of the People’s Bank of China.

“We are thankful for the support received from the representatives of People’s Bank of China (PBC), by organizing this seminar here in Beijing. We are confident that the cooperation between IDB and PBC will continue to grow as a fruitful partnership and further strengthen the integration between China and our region”, said Hiroshi Toyoda, the IDB Office of Outreach and Partnerships Special Advisor for Asia. 

TFFP

Launched in 2005, the TFFP constitutes an effective tool for the IDB to support economic growth through the expansion of international trade financing available to Latin American and Caribbean companies. The TFFP comprises a network of 198 Confirming Banks from 71 different international banking groups, and 34 Issuing Banks in 14 Latin American and Caribbean countries, with US$642 million in approved credit lines. To date, the IDB has issued guarantees for over US$350 million in support of 441 individual trade transactions totaling US$468 million.

“For the last four years, our department has, through its Financial Markets Division, dedicated a strong effort to developing and growing the Trade Finance Facilitation Program, said Hans Schulz, Manager of the IDB Structured and Corporate Finance Department. We will further strive to expand the TFFP’s network and reach, since we firmly believe in the Program’s capacity of building bridges which support trade integration between Latin American, and Caribbean countries with the rest of the world. I am delighted to see the TFFP serving as a tool for further fostering business relations between China and the LAC region”, added Schulz.