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The memorandum was signed by Mohammed Tahlak, director of corporate support at Etihad Credit Insurance, along with Jan-Philipp Apking and Thomas Baum, members of Euler Hermes executive management, according to a report by the Emirates News Agency. Euler Hermes manages Germany’s official export credit guarantee scheme on behalf of the federal government. The pact creates a structure for ongoing collaboration that could extend to third-country markets where both UAE and German firms participate in major contracts. Officials from both sides will now pursue a full reinsurance agreement to formalise risk-sharing arrangements.
Under the proposed reinsurance pact, the two agencies will evaluate potential transactions on a case-by-case basis using their respective eligibility rules and risk criteria, the Emirates News Agency reported. Participation remains subject to each institution’s product offerings and compliance with international standards. The framework aims to reduce barriers for exporters by distributing financial exposure more efficiently across bilateral deals. Such coordination has become increasingly relevant as cross-border infrastructure demand grows in the Gulf and beyond.
Germany’s official export credit guarantee scheme backed projects and contracts valued at approximately €1.4 billion in the Gulf region during 2025, almost double the volume from the previous year, according to figures cited in the joint announcement. The growth reflects heightened interest in regional opportunities among German suppliers. Euler Hermes data places the increase against a backdrop of expanding trade ties between European economies and GCC states. The trend underscores the strategic value both agencies see in deeper alignment.
The latest memorandum builds directly on an ad-hoc reinsurance arrangement the two agencies concluded in 2024 for a significant infrastructure project in Iraq, the Emirates News Agency stated. That earlier deal supplied a working model for coordinated support involving suppliers from both countries. Lessons from the Iraq transaction informed the broader cooperation now under discussion. Success in that instance demonstrated the practical benefits of aligned risk mitigation approaches.
Etihad Credit Insurance reported insured turnover of AED 16.2 billion in 2024, marking a 15.7 percent increase from the prior year and covering more than 100 countries across 17 strategic sectors, according to the company’s annual report released in May 2025. The performance accounted for 2.85 percent of the UAE’s total non-oil exports that year. UAE non-oil foreign trade overall expanded to AED 3 trillion in 2024, a 14.6 percent rise, Central Statistical Bureau data shows. ECI has facilitated more than AED 21 billion in cumulative export trade and investment since its establishment.
The partnership aligns with the UAE’s target of reaching AED 800 billion in non-oil exports by the end of the decade under the We the UAE 2031 vision, ECI’s annual report noted. Saudi Arabia represented the largest single market for ECI-supported exports within the Gulf and MENA region, taking seven percent of the agency’s total exposure. The agency maintains agreements with more than 20 international export credit bodies worldwide to expand such risk-sharing capabilities. This latest tie-up with Euler Hermes adds Germany to an expanding roster of strategic reinsurance partners.
