• The agreement will provide a strategic framework for future collaboration and joint projects between the two G7 export credit agencies

• The signing is part of the first UK-Japan Strategic Economy Policy and Trade Dialogue being held in London today

The UK and Japanese export credit agencies (ECAs) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support their future collaboration on projects around the world. This will help them as they work together to broker more deals which support exporting businesses.

The UK Export Finance (UKEF) and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) MoU sets out revised terms of cooperation which support ambitions for sustainable development outlined in the Hiroshima Accord, G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII) and UN Sustainable Development Goals.

With a focus on export credit policy and co-investment projects, continued partnership between the two ECAs will support the international competitiveness of UK and Japanese businesses as they seek to access global trading opportunities.

The terms of the agreement will guide the ECAs in future collaboration on projects around the world – especially in Africa and the Indo-Pacific – which draw on UK and Japanese supply chains. This is expected to create opportunities for project sponsors worldwide to avail of UKEF and NEXI support, especially for clean energy initiatives and sustainable projects in healthcare, water, education and transport.

The signing was part of the first ever UK-Japan Strategic Economy Policy and Trade Dialogue, held today in London by Secretary of State for Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura.

The UKEF-NEXI agreement will support the dialogue’s aim of maintaining and strengthening the multilateral trading system in a way which enables sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth.

The Rt. Hon Kemi Badenoch MP, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, said:

Today’s dialogue and new agreement mark an exciting new chapter in UK-Japan cooperation, showing how our innovative economies complement each other.

We’ve signed up to CPTPP and already have a bespoke trade deal with Japan, but through these new talks we can now work more closely on cutting-edge tech like clean energy to ensure that our businesses stay competitive on the global stage.

With UKEF having pioneered ECA support for Ukraine since 2021 – backing the reconstruction of bridges around Kyiv and planning to ensure the country’s continuity of nuclear energy supplies – the agreement also outlines the agencies’ intention to share expertise which could support bilateral and multilateral efforts to reconstruct Ukraine.

This latest development marks almost two decades of cooperation between the government organisations, which signed a first Memorandum of Understanding in 1995 and maintain close ties through their shared G7 membership.

Notes to Editors

• UK Export Finance is the UK’s export credit agency and a government department, working alongside the Department for Business and Trade as an integral part of its strategy and operations.

• Established in 1919, its mission is to advance prosperity by ensuring no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance, doing that sustainably and at no net cost to the taxpayer.

• The non-binding Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 6 September 2023 by UKEF’s Chief Strategy and Impact Officer and NEXI’s Managing Executive Officer in the presence of UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Nishimura Yasutoshi.

• The Hiroshima Accord is an enhanced UK-Japan global strategic partnership which was announced before the May 2023 G7 summit.

• The PGII is an initiative which was announced at the June 2022 G7 summit which sees G7 member countries collaborate to fund infrastructure projects in developing countries.