Australia's exports to some of Asia's developing countries are expected to get a boost following the formalization of a finance risk-sharing agreement between Australia's Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) and the Asian Development Bank, it was announced Tuesday.

Under the agreement, EFIC will share the risk that ADB, through its Trade Finance Program (TFP), shoulders in guaranteeing letters of credit for exports of Australian goods into Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

The risk-sharing agreement should make it easier for some of Asia's developing economies to import crucial Australian goods, an ADB statement said in announcing the agreement on Tuesday.

This will provide the TFP, which extends guarantees and loans through banks to support international trade, with additional capacity to support trade in those three countries, the ADB statement said.

As an export credit agency, EFIC provides finance and insurance coverage to Australian exporters, helping them overcome the financial barriers they face when growing their business overseas, it said.

The ADB trade finance facility targets Asia's "most challenging markets," the statement said, adding that it does not assume risk in relatively developed markets such as China, India, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Australia's exports to Asian markets reached A$284.1 billion in 2010, of which $155.9 billion, or 67.3 percent, went to East Asia. Developing Asian countries should be able to import more Australian goods with the ADB-EFIC credit risk sharing deal, it was noted.

"ADB's increased capacity to support exports from Australia to emerging Asia should create many opportunities for Australian businesses, large and small, that trade with the region, and their banks," said EFIC executive director Andrea Govaert.

The TFP supported 783 trade transactions worth $2.8 billion in 2010, with most of that trade conducted in countries where international banks do little or no trade finance business, the Manila-headquartered ADB said.

Around 35 percent of the TFP-supported trade deals last year were conducted by small- and medium-sized enterprises, which collectively generate most jobs in many developing countries, while 49 percent of the transactions were between developing countries in Asia, ADB said.

The most active users of the program last year were Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, the development bank said.