Dec 6, 2011

• ?A contract was signed on December 6 for up to US$ 50 million, with funds from the BNDES Exim Automatic

On December 6, the BNDES and the Foreign Trade Bank of Latin America (Bladex) signed a contract to finance Brazilian exports of machinery and equipment to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Financing will be done through a new support modality: the BNDES Exim Automatic.

A line of credit was established for up to US$ 50 million. Bladex will operate via its headquarters in Panama and will be able to finance importers of Brazilian machinery, covering more than 20 countries in Latin American and the Caribbean.

The BNDES Exim Automatic was developed by the Foreign Trade Division of the BNDES and created to meet the demand of Brazilian exporters. The product aims to give greater operational agility in financing Brazilian exports of machinery and equipment and other items of higher added value by providing credit lines to foreign banks.

Since it began operating in April this year, product operations have already been held in eight countries: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Nigeria.

Among exports that are expected to increase with this new line of credit, agricultural machinery and implements, industrial machinery, buses and trucks, road machinery, generators and transformers, and Brazilian telecommunications equipment stand apart.

The contract entered into by the BNDES and Bladex was in the BNDES Exim Automatic’s buyer credit modality. In it, Bladex, in Panama, is the party obtaining the financing, assuming the operation risk and offering credit to the importer.

The disbursements of funds will be made by the BNDES, in Brazilian reais, directly to exporters in Brazil, who will receive in advance for their exports, without taking risks of a commercial and political nature. In these operations, the BNDES will not remit funds outside the country.

The partnership between the BNDES and Bladex will be an important tool for promoting trade between Brazil and countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Furthermore, it allows the exploration of new opportunities for cooperation between the two financial institutions in the region.

With the BNDES Exim Automatic, the BNDES aims to consolidate partnerships with accredited banks in Latin America and also in Africa, thus creating an overseas network to finance Brazilian exports. 

Bladex is a supranational bank originally established by the central banks of Latin American and Caribbean countries to promote foreign trade financing in the region. Based in Panama, the Bank’s shareholders include central and commercial banks in 23 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as international banks, Latin American banks, and private investors.