AECM Virtual Annual Event:
22 – 24 September 2021

Guarantees for economic recovery and to foster sustainable investments

Schedule

Wednesday

– For members only –

22 September 2021

13h00 – 14h00

Meeting of the outgoing Board of Directors

 

14h30 – 16h30

Meeting of the ordinary General Assembly
Interpretation: DE, EN, ES, FR, IT

17h00 – 18h00

Constitutive meeting of the Board of Directors

 

 

 

Thursday 

23 September 2021

10h00 – 12h00

Public Session of the General Assembly  

 

10h00

Opening

  • Chairman of AECM 
10h10

Key note addresses:
How to achieve a speedy and full recovery

  • Kerstin Jorna, Director General, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW), European Commission 
  • Alain Godard, Chief Executive, European Investment Fund
  • Véronique Willems, Secretary-General, SMEunited
10h40

Financing the digitalisation of SMEs

Moderator and introductory speaker:
DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION Lucia Cusmano
, Deputy Head of the SME and Entrepreneurship Division, Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities, OECD

11h55

Concluding remarks

  • Chairman of AECM 
12h00

End of the public session of the General Assembly

14h00 – 15h45

Public International Summit 

 

14h00

Welcome to the international summit

  • Chairman of AECM 
  • José Fernando Figueiredo, Special Honorary Chairman of the European Association of Guarantee Institutions (AECM) with the special mandate for international relations, and Coordinator of the Global Network of Guarantee Institutions (GNGI)
14h10

Keynote address:
How to make SMEs around the world fit for future

  • Matthew Gamser, CEO, The SME Finance Forum
14h30

From continent to continent:
Recent trends in the guarantee industry

Moderator and introductory speaker:
Ghada O’Teima, Global – Principal Operations Officer, Financial Institutions Group, International Finance Corporation (IFC)

  • Asia
    Sang-il Kim, Deputy Director, International Affairs Team, KODIT, Korea

  • Ibero-America / Latin-America
    Beatriz Freitas, President of The Ibero-American network of guarantees association (REGAR) and Chairwoman of the Board of Directors, Banco Português de Fomento (BPF), Portugal

  • The MENA region
    Nagla Bahr, President of the Euro-Mediterranean Guarantee Network (EMGN) and Managing Director, Credit Guarantee Company (CGC), Egypt 

  • Europe
    Katrin Sturm, Secretary General, European Association of Guarantee Institutions (AECM)

15h30

Concluding remarks

  • Mohammed Al-Jafari, Director General, Jordan Loan Guarantee Corporation (JLGC) and  Coordinator of the Global Network of Guarantee Institutions (GNGI)
15h45

End of the international summit

16h00 – 17h00

Annual meeting of the GNGI 
for members only

 

16h00
  • Approval and presentation of new members of the GNGI
  • Activity plan 2021 – 2022 / Topics for webinars
  • Next meeting
  • Any other business
16h50

Concluding remarks

  • José Fernando Figueiredo, GNGI Coordinator
17h00

End of the GNGI meeting

 

 

Friday 

24 September 2021

Seminar “Guarantees for economic recovery and to foster sustainable investments”  

09h00

Opening statement

  • Chairman of AECM 
09h10

Keynote addresses:
Factors required for economic recovery

  • Edouard Fernandez-Bollo, Member of the Supervisory Board, European Central Bank (ECB) “ECB supervisory priorities”
  • DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION Peter Simon, Managing Director European Savings and Retail Banking Group as well as Managing Director World Savings and Retail Banking Institute
  • Lina Konstantinopoulou, Policy Director, Eurochambres – the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry
09h45

Panel 1

Fostering sustainable investments

Moderator and introductory speaker:
Giuseppe E. Gramigna, Advisor to AECM, Consultant to the World Bank Group and former US SBA Chief Economist, USA
Technical Screening Criteria and Taxonomies for Environmentally Sustainable Activities and their Financing – The MSME Dimension

  • DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION Pietro Calice, Senior Financial Economist, Europe and Central Asia, The World Bank
  • DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION Sumeet Manchanda, Associate Director, Lead EU & Bilateral Green Finance, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
  • Christian Fahrholz, Head of Unit Corporate Finance and Financial Markets, Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) and member of the Board of Directors of the Association of German Guarantee Banks (VDB), Germany
11h00

Break

11h30

Panel 2

Fostering SMEs’ resilience: The role of equity and mezzanine finance

Moderator and introductory speaker:
DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION Christian Dubarry, Head of European and International Relations, Bpifrance, France

  • Gerhard Huemer, Director Economic Policy, SMEunited
  • DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION Guy Selbherr, Managing Director of the SME-oriented investment company of Baden-Württemberg (“Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg GmbH”/ MBG Baden-Württemberg) as well as Managing Director of the Guarantee Bank of Baden-Württemberg (“Bürgschaftsbank Baden-Württemberg”), Germany
  • DOWNLAOD PRESENTATION Doris Agneter, Managing Director of a promotional institution providing guarantees and participations to SMEs based in Lower Austria (“NÖ Bürgschaften und Beteiligungen GmbH“ – NÖBEG), Austria
12h30

Break

13h30

Panel 3

Financial instruments: EU support for a successful recovery

Moderator and introductory speaker:
Giorgio Chiarion Casoni, Director, InvestEU and financial institutions, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission

  • Astrid Bartels, Head of Unit, Access to Finance, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW), European Commission
  • Stéphane Ouaki, Head of Department E, European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA), European Commission
  • Michael Pielke, Head of Unit, Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Slovenia; Financial instruments, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI), European Commission
  • Jonathan Denness, Head of Unit, Financial Instruments and International Financial Institutions Relations, Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO), European Commission
  • Andrea Bomhoff, Head of Unit, State aid — Financial institutions III, Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP), European Commission
  • Christa Karis, EIG – Head of Strategy and Business Support, European Investment Fund (EIF)
  • Giorgio Venceslai, Executive Director, ISMEA, Italy
  • Kiril Velitchkov, Director European Projects and Financial Institutions, UBB, Bulgaria, Manager of KBC Group European Financial Instruments Competence Center
15h20

Closing Remarks

  • Chairman of AECM 
15h30

End of seminar

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