RIYADH: The Saudi Export and Import Bank has signed an agreement to insure Saudi Basic Industries Corporation’s sales on a letter of credit basis across 40 countries against non-payment risks posed by the issuing banks, the bank said in a statement on Tuesday. It is considered to be the largest policy ever issued in the Middle East and the first of its kind to be offered directly to exporters to insure unconfirmed LCs from issuing banks. It also significantly amplifies the prospects for growth and penetration into new regional and international markets and enhances the competitiveness of Saudi petrochemical exports. CEO of Saudi EXIM Bank Saad Al-Khalab, and Salah Al-Hareky, SABIC’s executive vice president of corporate finance, signed the agreement. Al-Khalab said: “This milestone agreement with SABIC aligns with the bank’s ongoing commitment to bolster the Saudi non-oil economy and enhance its contribution to the gross domestic product. “The bank focuses on encouraging companies to broaden their export operations and venture into new international markets. “The letter of credit insurance policy is the newest addition to our product offerings provided to Saudi exporters, which was designed to enable SABIC (to) realize its vision of becoming a world leader in petrochemicals and achieve more stability of cover and pricing in very critical export markets with (a) high degree of geopolitical and economic challenges.” SABIC’s CEO Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh said: “We expect the letter of credit insurance policy provided by the Saudi EXIM Bank to play a key role in driving our export expansions as it strengthens our ambitions toward realizing our strategic objectives and multiplying our investments, considering the growth in new global markets for our products. “We are committed to contributing to the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, which focuses on augmenting the share of non-oil products in the Kingdom’s gross domestic product and promoting the Made in Saudi initiative.” The Saudi EXIM Bank plays a significant role in strengthening the Kingdom’s non-oil economy on the global stage and focuses on bridging credit gaps and mitigating the risks faced by exporters. This approach aligns with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 objectives, which aim to elevate the share of non-oil exports in GDP.