On July 23, Mr. Jiang Jianqing, Chairman of ICBC signed the Integrative Investment and Financing Development Cooperation Agreement with Mr. Sufian Ahmed Beker, Minister of Finance and Economic Development of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. According to the Agreement, the Bank will adhere to open cooperation and mutual benefit, develop customized development plan for the government of Ethiopia, and provide integrated financial services including strategic planning and counseling, project planning, investment and financing counseling and risk management by leveraging the Bank’s group-wide resources.

On the same day, Chairman Jiang Jianqing of the Bank also witnessed the signing of OMO KURAZ 5 Project Financing Agreement between ICBC and Ethiopian OMO KURAZ 5 together with Ding Jie, CEO of Jianglian Heavy Industry Co., Ltd., a leading enterprise in Jiangxi Province. According to the financing agreement, the Bank will arrange for the export credit financing of USD550 million for the OMO KURAZ 5 Project, and will also serve as a financing counselor of the Project. Jianglian International, a subsidiary of Jianglian Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. will undertake the Project. The Project is a “Going Global” business with the largest single amount in Jiangxi Province, and also a major achievement of the implementation of the “Going Global” Strategic Agreement signed between the Bank and the Jiangxi Provincial Government this March.

Located in the east of Africa, Ethiopia boasts longer average daytime and adequate rainfall, making the average productivity and sugar content of sugarcanes far higher than in other African nations. With the unique advantages in developing the sugar industry, Ethiopia is one of the countries most suitable for sugarcane plantation in Africa. OMO KURAZ 5, the signing party of this Agreement, is capable of processing 24,000 tons of sugarcanes per day, with an annual productivity of 348,000 tons of refined sugar. The Project, once completed, will meet the demands for refined sugar of Ethiopia. Besides, the refined sugar can be exported to neighboring countries, which will effectively facilitate Ethiopia in earning foreign exchange through export. Meanwhile, the design and production equipment of the Project will be mainly provided by Chinese-funded enterprises, which will effectively improve the export of engineering design standards for the electromechanical equipment and sugar industries.

In the past few years, ICBC has been leveraging its global service network to actively provide comprehensive financial services for enterprises going global and China’s “One Belt and One Road” programme. The Bank’s overseas network has been extended to 42 countries and territories over the world, ranking the first among all Chinese-funded financial institutions in terms of global network coverage. In addition, the Bank indirectly covers 20 African countries by holding shares in Standard Bank of South Africa, forming a global service network covering Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, North America and Australia. With the opportunity deriving from “One Belt and One Road”, the Bank has leveraged its extensive experience in investment and financing in overseas infrastructure industry and adopted the innovative financial service mode of commercial banking + investment banking to support and guide the Chinese-funded enterprises going global.