Five Reasons Why Export Credit Institutions Should Measure and Report their Social Impact
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12711 |
| Date | 01 September 2019 |
| Author | Allon Groth |
| Published date | 01 September 2019 |
Five Reasons Why Export Credit Institutions
Should Measure and Report their Social Impact
Allon Groth
Norwegian Export Credit Guarantee Agency GIEK, Norway
Abstract
Export credit agencies (ECAs) are facing similar challenges when branding and marketing their services to small businesses.
Communicating the social impact of ECAs is beneficial when reaching out to new customers, building a stronger internal cul-
ture or responding to government policies.
Official export credit agencies (ECAs), such as Norway’s GIEK,
are helping their national industries to grow domestically
and succeed internationally. Safer, larger and faster sales are
among the key benefits that we offer to our companies and
banks, and we are expected by our owners to explain to the
public why we exist and the benefits that we provide
(Government of Norway, 2009). Furthermore, working
together as a global network, export creditors worldwide
are sharing knowledge and helping maintain international
trade (Berne Union, 2019).
Despite the benefits of ECAs, it is challenging to introduce
ourselves to business leaders and commercial bank advisers
with limited or no experience in export finance: our prod-
ucts are often perceived to be complex and it takes time to
explain our place alongside commercial banks, credit institu-
tions and other government bodies. Presenting this topic to
European and Asian ECAs in February 2019, organised by
the Berne Union’s Prague Club Committee and hosted by
Credit Oman, I was struck by the fact that different ECAs
often encounter similar obstacles when branding and mar-
keting themselves. This communication challenge is espe-
cially clear when entering the realm of small and medium-
sized businesses and related associations, media and events.
Even export credit providers with relatively high brand
awareness are working hard to re-brand themselves after
launching new products to target new businesses and mar-
kets. Last but not least –such issues also tend to trigger
lively discussions within our institutions.
Driven by our social contribution
Each country has unique political, legal and institutional
structures. Some national ECAs are transferring profits to the
state budget, some are not, some have merged medium
and long-term ECA business with short-term insurance and
export promotion, whereas others retain separate institu-
tions for each of those purposes. ECAs are expected to be
conscious of, and operate in accordance with, wider govern-
ment policies regarding good governance (OECD, 2019).
However, their success in terms of job and value creation is
not included in the normal definition of corporate social
responsibility (CSR).
Nevertheless, having met with a large number of ECA
executives and managers in recent years, I am convinced
that all export credit institutions are ultimately driven by
their ambition to contribute to society. This drive appears to
be a powerful tool for both internal and external communi-
cation. Therefore measuring and communicating our contri-
butions to society is something every ECA should be doing.
In Norway, GIEK has been measuring and reporting our
contribution to society since 2014 (GIEK, 2014), specifically,
we calculate the number of jobs created or maintained by our
guarantees, both at customer level and indirectly in the rele-
vant value chains. We also calculate the total value creation
resulting from our services. Value creation is defined as con-
tract values minus the input factors. Finally, we attribute jobs
and value creation to each of Norway’s 19 counties. Initially,
this work started in response to a request by the Ministry of
Trade and Fisheries; however, we soon discovered that we
were achieving other goals too, that are outlined below.
Two disclaimers before moving on to the five reasons for
communicating social impact: first, our contribution to soci-
ety should clearly not replace sound financial reporting and
communication, but be used as a supplement; second, social
reporting has its own dilemmas, which are discussed below.
Five reasons for social impact communication
Connecting with our owners
Government-owned export credit insurance providers are
not banks, even though we offer similar products and
employ similar tools and techniques (e.g. when working with
collaterals and handling claims). We strive to be competitive
not as an end in itself, but to boost the competitiveness of
our customers. Our communication with our owners should
therefore reflect the fact that we are both government tools
and financially self-sufficient. Reporting our financial
©2019 University of Durham and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Global Policy (2019) 10:3 doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12711
Global Policy Volume 10 . Issue 3 . September 2019
424
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