The public bank has announced the deployment of a new tool to promote the sales of French products on foreign markets. Funding can reach several million euros.

“A range of tools has been put in place, which leaves more room for inaction.” When it comes to encourage French firms to conquer foreign markets, Emmanuel Macron did not hesitate to show directional. This 17th of march, he expressed himself on the occasion of the Bercy Finance Export 2015, an event bringing together approximately 400 business, institutional, and professional in export markets, the ministry of Finance. And where, precisely, Bpifrance has officially launched a new tool available to SMES and ETI : the export credit. The objective is to enable them to offer financing solutions to their foreign clients. An additional card to play in trade negotiations. Foreign enterprises have such a solution in their country, ensures that the public bank. “We’ve just begun the operational development of the export credit at the beginning of march, and, without making any communication on the subject, we have already collected fifteen applications from companies, said Arnaud Caudoux, its executive director. The evidence that there was a demand stifled, latent. And that, without this credit, markets were lost.”

buyer Credit or supplier credit

in practical terms, this credit is covered by Coface, takes two forms. It’s either a buyer’s credit “directly granted by Bpifrance to the foreign customer” of the French company exporting. Either of a supplier credit, “issued by the exporter to its customer, then acquired by Bpifrance to the company”. The amount ranges between 1 and 25 million euros, “and up to 75 million euros in co-financing with banks buyer’s credit”. The device is added to the existing supply of Bpifrance on the international. First, the conventional ready-to-export, of up to € 5 million, without collateral, repayable in 7 years including 2 years grace. These loans know, according to Nicolas Dufourcq, general director of the bank to the public, a “phenomenal success”. 560 million euros were granted in 2014 in their part, knowing that this amount is actually double the global, as Bpifrance is always involved in co-financing 50/50 with the private sector. At this rate, the initial target of 800 million euros outstanding used in the framework of the loan export in 2017 is expected to be widely exceeded, writes Nicolas Dufourcq. Another tool of the public bank : Advance+ Export, a system of pre-financing of orders to export in any way, because it allows you to mobilize its foreign claims are denominated in euro.

Finally, this is not funding but, among the support for exporting SMES conducted by Bpifrance, we can mention the support of responsible business from Business France, which have invested in the agencies of the public store, and relate, by videoconference, in particular, entrepreneurs eager to explore a new market, with experts located in the countries in question. They should be more numerous in the future.

Your support is essential. Subscribe for $ 1 support Us

If the activity covered insurance Coface (credit insurance or insurance prospecting), widely used for exporting SMES, has not yet fallen into the lap of Bpifrance, it is not excluded that this is the case in the future.

Refinancing of large loans and export loans Treasury

The morning was also an opportunity to revisit two other new devices, which involve fewer small businesses. On the one hand, the introduction of refinancing, by the Sfil (société de financement local), credits exporting big amount granted by banks. And on the other hand, the introduction of loans from the Treasury, namely direct loans from the State, to distinguish concessional loans to the Treasury (ex-WLR) to be fairly limited geographically. They will be awarded with the eligibility criteria are very strict : in particular, the fact that the project creates added value in France and that the company is in direct competition with other companies, non-French beneficiaries of aid mechanisms in their own countries.

“If the financing of the export is important, there are also other tools to launch into the international, recalled Eric Mottay, CEO of Amplitude Systems, an SME (300 people) specialized in lasers, achieving more than 60 million euros of turnover, of which 95% for export. The international corporate volunteer (VIE) is a very good device, for example. As much as it exists today of the highly trained young people, who have already spent time abroad during their studies. It can also be helped in the French Tech Hub, business centers where resources are pooled and that allow the company to concentrate on his job. The export is not a matter of size.”

Read our complete file

Bpifrance

Nicolas Dufourcq (Bpifrance) : “We are the navigators of our life” “in Paris, there is a lot of money for start-ups” With BIG, the BPI wants to make progress in the world of tomorrow