Ashra's CEO: "Crises create opportunities"

Credit Director General Nissim Ben Eli has an accurate message for Israeli exporters. "Crises create opportunities," he says in an interview with the PORT2PORT system with a call through the Zoom app. "If an exporter recognizes an opportunity - don't hesitate, start rolling out a deal, contact us and we will do everything we can to help him promote deals, because those who invest today and start promoting deals will reap their rewards after the crisis," Ben Eli says.
 
 
Credit Company is the Israeli foreign trade risk insurance company. This is a government-owned company that assists Israeli exporters and secures credit and investment in medium and long-term export transactions (from one to ten years). According to Ben Eli, there is a structured market failure in the area of ​​credit insurance in the medium to long term, and the private market does not respond to it due to the high risk / chance prospects inherent in it

Ben Eli: "This is not a credit insurance deal with the US government, but when dealing with a country in Africa like Zambia or Angola, these are countries that are very sensitive to political and economic risks, and the private market doesn't really want to be in the game. And if it is in the game it is at very high costs that are no longer worthwhile to make the deal. Credit operates in the medium to long term, which means that we do not respond to exporters in year-on-year transactions but only when the transaction is for a year or more. "
 
 
What does the Corona crisis look like from the perspective of a credit card company? The scope of the company's operations has changed?
 
 
Nissim Ben-Eli: "It may be surprising, but we are operating at almost normal activity. I expected exporters to slow down or reduce interest, but we continue to receive inquiries and requests, and it turns out that both exporters and countries want to promote deals that have already received approval in principle. We are operating in almost the same standard we had before the crisis broke out".

What happens to a credit company in terms of employee capacity and scope of work? Are you defined as an essential enterprise?
 
 
Nissim Ben-Eli: "We are defined as a vital enterprise like all financial institutions in the financial market. As a result, almost all employees continue to work. However, because of the limitations of physical presence in the office, we schedule it so that half the employees work from home and half work from the office. "
 
 
What is the global situation in credit insurance and transaction insurance?
 
 
Nissim Ben-Eli: "We recognize a number of trends that arise from restrictions on the movement of people and restrictions on the movement of goods. These are things that make transactions difficult. For example, an exporter who wants to promote a deal, and is in the process of negotiating, has to negotiate today with technological means such as the zoom app, for example. No face-to-face deals are closed. There is no physical contact that is an essential part of the negotiations and involves meeting people, closing a deal for dinner or a glass of beer - this is a difficulty that should not be underestimated. In addition, the restrictions on transport and transport have led to a very large decrease in the volume of activity to the sea and air ports, and this gives its signals. We and the customers are not feeling it yet, but I guess if it lasts for a few more months we will already feel the consequences of that. "