Digitising letters of credit (L/Cs) features in the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation's (ITFC's) 2023 Annual Programme with Egypt.

The US$1.5 billion programme comes under the five-year framework agreement signed between the two sides, worth US$6 billion.

L/C benefitsThe annual work programme of the ITFC in Egypt for 2023 incorporates several activities, including US$800 million of trade financing in favour of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and US$700 million of trade financing for the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC).

As part of the programme, ITFC will cooperate with EGPC and GASC to support the digitisation of their international transactions by digitising their L/Cs and shipping documents.

Additional support

Lines of financing for local Egyptian banks, including Banque Misr and the National Bank of Egypt, to support small- and medium-sized enterprises will also be provided by ITFC.

It also plans to develop trade development interventions, providing integrated trade solutions in Egypt through various programmes to help integrate Egyptian companies into global and regional supply chains to enhance trade relations with African countries.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or Coastline Solutions.