HSBC India, UK Export Finance tie up for 100 mn pound financing programme

HSBC India and UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK's export credit agency, have intended to establish a financing programme of up to 100 million pound to support Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and corporates for financing their imports from Britain.

This partnership will enhance the availability of credit for Indian MSMEs and boost trade ties between the two countries, HSBC India said in a statement on Thursday.

HSBC India and UKEF on Thursday signed a Letter of Intent (LoI), which enables them to work together on opportunities relating to UKEF's guarantee-backed structures.

India was the UK's 12th largest trading partner in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2023, accounting for 2.1 per cent of total UK trade.

In 2021, around 7,500 UK SMEs, with around 3,17,300 employees, exported goods worth 1.2 billion pound to India, accounting for 85 per cent of all UK businesses exporting goods to India.

Providing enhanced financial access and developing an ecosystem that increases the productivity of SMEs and their competitiveness is crucial to achieving broad-based growth.

"At HSBC, we remain focused on supporting this underserved sector through this financing programme, helping them accelerate innovative transformations, capture new opportunities, and encourage job creation," it said.