Türk Eximbank aims to increase its export support by 11% year-on-year to over $50 billion in 2021, Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said Friday.

Speaking at the Türk Eximbank 2020 Operating Results and 2021 Targets Meeting, Pekcan said the bank's export support rate is projected to rise to 27.7% this year.

Noting that Türk Eximbank plays a crucial role in transforming the country's production power into exports, Pekcan said the bank has the ninth-largest asset size in the sector.

Pekcan stressed that Türk Eximbank made 53.9% of its total export loan available while being the largest insurance firm in the country.

Türk Eximbank provided financing – both in loans and insurance – worth $45.6 billion in 2020, up 3.6% from the previous year, she said.

"For exporters, Türk Eximbank extended $28.5 billion of cash loan and $17.1 billion of credit insurance last year with a rise of 7% from 2019," Pekcan noted.

The rate of export support increased from 24.3% to 26.9% last year, she said.

The number of exporters also climbed 4% year-on-year to 13,102 in 2020. Most of them are small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Currently having 20 branches and 11 liaison offices, Türk Eximbank is opening five new branches this year, she underlined.

Türk Eximbank took steps last year to enhance international cooperation with several organizations.

In December, it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB), one of Africa's major regional financial institutions to promote bilateral trade with its 22 member countries.

It also focuses on increasing the number of reinsurance deals to pave the way for Turkish companies to undertake more projects abroad.

It inked a reinsurance cooperation agreement with Denmark’s export credit agency, EKF Danmarks Eksportkredit (EKF), in August 2020 and Austria’s official export support institution OeKB Gruppe this week.