Export financing

French companies in the defence and security sectors can benefit from traditional public funding (national and territorial aid) and can also turn to aid created specifically to meet their needs.

Access to financing is a major issue for exporting and internationalization of companies, in the face of foreign competition that often benefits from effective state or private support. This is why GICAT has decided to produce a guide to export financing for manufacturers.

The political and economic context in France has led to a simplification and modernization of export support mechanisms. Efforts have been focused on the creation of mechanisms designed for very small companies, as they face difficulties in accessing financing.

Despite the existing support mechanisms, companies in the defence sector face additional difficulties due to the nature of their strategic and technological activity. The specific risks of export contracts for sensitive equipment are often linked to the difficulty of accessing banking solutions if the project is not considered compatible with the financial partner’s strategy (insufficient amount, nature of the equipment or the client, compliance, reputation risk). These compliance rules often go beyond the regulatory framework by highlighting the risk to reputation or image.

Faced with this situation and the scarcity of private support, defence companies can now have recourse to certain public mechanisms.
The solutions offered are listed in a summary table and are presented in the guide below, knowing that there are aids/subsidies, notably regional, which can be complementary.

In order to clarify this environment and to have a global view on the existing solutions, GICAT, through this guide, wishes to facilitate your company a better apprehension of the numerous solutions of security and financing available. The objective is to support your approach at each stage of the export process.

The guide’s summary tables indicate, throughout the life of an export project, different families of security, financing and protection solutions. This guide does not claim to be exhaustive. It explains and highlights public and private information, points of attention or concrete recommendations. It will be updated regularly.

The practical approach of this guide is based on the multidisciplinary experience of the author, Thierry Franco, and aims to make the techniques of international trade and its financing more accessible to GICAT members. In order to facilitate the research of adapted solutions, many additional information and devices available on the Internet are listed in appendix. The author can also assist you in your search for solutions for the international development of your company. (contact: www.O2TF.com or TF@O2TF.com)

This guide is exclusively reserved for GICAT members and can be consulted in the Member Area.