Ceremony for the outgoing President and members of the Board of Directors of AECM

Presentation of the members of the new Board of Directors of AECM

Panel on the activities of AECM
Moderator: Bernhard Sagmeister, CEO, Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws), Austria

• Overview of the activities 2014 to 2015, José Fernando Figueiredo, Special Honorary Chairman of AECM, President of IFD and of SPGM
• Working group on Agriculture, László Tóth, AVHGA / Hungary
• Working group on Banking Supervision, Enrico Gaia, Assoconfidi / Italy
• Working group on SME Policy, Pedro Pisonero Pérez, CESGAR / Spain
• Working group on State Aid, Guy Selbherr, VDB / Germany
• Working group on Statistics and Studies, Bernard Jehin, Sowalfin / Belgium
• Working group on Structural Funds, Audrius Zabotka, INVEGA / Lithuania

Panel on the priorities of the Juncker Commission: What’s in for SMEs’ access to finance?
Moderator: Michel Cottet, Managing Director of SIAGI, France

• Alessandro Carano, Adviser to the Deputy Director General, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission – The investment plan for jobs and growth in Europe – an introduction
• José Manuel Fernandes, Member of the European Parliament – The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) – What does the European Parliament do for SMEs’ access to finance?
• Eva-Maria Meyer, Deputy Director General European Policy, German Federal Ministry of Finance – Boosting jobs, growth and investment – a European or a national task?
• Jesús Fernández Sánchez, Vice-President of the Confederación Española de Sociedades de Garantía Recíproca (CESGAR) – Expectations of the guarantee institutions towards the new Commission
• Georg Baur, Member of the Managing Board of the Association of German Public Banks / Bundesverband Öffentlicher Banken Deutschlands (VÖB) – Building a Capital Markets Union: How to kick-start growth and to increase options for financing for SMEs?
• Peter Faross, Secretary General of the European Association of Craft and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (UEAPME) – SMEs’ requests to the Juncker Commission

Welcome address and opening remarks

• Chairman of AECM
• Guy Selbherr, President, Association of German Guarantee Banks / Verband Deutscher Bürgschaftsbanken (VDB)

Greeting: “The importance of guarantee banks and SME-oriented investment companies for small and medium-sized companies in Germany”

• Matthias Machnig, Secretary of State, German Federal Ministry for Economy and Energy
  

Opening remarks: “SMEs’ problems in getting access to finance for innovation”

• Hans Peter Wollseifer, President of the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts and Small Businesses / Zentralverband des Deutschen Handwerks (ZDH)
  

Panel: “Innovation financing – are SMEs less innovative than big companies? – How to unlock their full potential”
Moderator: Sabine Seeger, Correspondent Europe VDI-nachrichten

• Kristin Schreiber, Director, Directorate-General Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG Growth), European Commission – How does the European Commission promote innovative SMEs?
• Pier Luigi Gilibert, CEO, European Investment Fund (EIF) – The role of the EIF in promoting innovative SMEs
• Matthias Kopka, Partner, Financial Services of Ebner Stolz – How to unlock the potential – which benefits can assurance deliver?
• Hans Peter Wollseifer, President, German Confederation of Skilled Crafts and Small Businesses / Zentralverband des Deutschen Handwerks (ZDH) – Are craftsmen innovative borrowers?
• Leonardo Nafissi, Head of Secretariat, Assoconfidi – Guarantee institutions, a key factor in financing innovation

Impulse statement: “Investing in innovation – where do we stand in Germany and Europe?”

• Alexander Schumann, Chief Economist, Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK)

Panel: “Global benchmarking and cross learning”
Moderator: José Fernando Figueiredo, special Honorary Chairman of AECM with special mandate for international relations, President of IFD and of SPGM

• Lucia Cusmano, Centre for Entrepreneurship, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Local Development, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – Building a conducive environment for innovative SMEs
• Pietro Calice, Senior Financial Sector Specialist Finance & Markets, World Bank Group – Principles for Public Partial Credit Guarantee Schemes for Small and Medium Enterprises in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies
• Pablo Pombo González, Founding President of AECM, Secretary General of the Iberoamerican Network of Guarantees (REGAR) – Support and opportunities for innovative and growing SMEs from a Latin American perspective
• Giuseppe Gramigna, Chief Economist at the Small Business Administration (SBA), United States – Creative Financing Options for innovative, young and fast growing companies – the US example
• Motohide Hashimoto, Executive Director, Japan Finance Corporation (JFC), Japan – Supporting innovative SMEs’ access to finance: a key factor for a successful economy – the Japanese example
• Alessandro Bozzo Toselli, Deputy Manager, State Guarantee SME Fund (FOGAPE), Chile – Supporting innovative SMEs’ access to finance: a key factor for a successful economy – the Chilean example

Parallel workshops A and B

Workshop A (please note that interpretation is not provided for this workshop)

Real life stories for promoting innovation with a special focus on innovative ways to use structural funds in promoting innovation
Moderator: Virginie Poncet, Head of International Consulting Activities, Development and International Affairs Department, Bpifrance, France

• Jörg Lackenbauer, Policy Analyst, Financial Instruments and International Financial Institutions Relations, DG REGIO — Regional and Urban Policy, European Commission
• Goran Becker, Member of the Managing Board, HAMAG-BICRO, Croatia
• Jacek Szugajew, Vice-President, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), Poland
• Audrius Zabotka, Director General, INVEGA, Lithuania
• Giedrius Martusevičius, Entrepreneur – Director / Partner UAB “ProBioSanus”

Workshop B

The role of COSME and Horizon 2020 in promoting innovation – from the design of a programme to the implementation and realisation
Moderator: Ana Vizcaíno, Managing Director of the Compañia Española de Reafianzamiento (CERSA), Spain

• Astrid Bartels, Policy Officer, Unit COSME Financial Instruments, Directorate-General Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG Growth), European Commission
• Vincent Van Steensel, Head of Portfolio Guarantees, European Investment Fund (EIF)
• Gunnar Mai, Head of EU Guarantee Facilities Guarantees & Securitisation, European Investment Fund (EIF)
• Jean-Claude Depoisier, Vice-President of the Fédération Nationale des SOCAMA, France
• Kurt Leutgeb, Head of Guarantees and Subsidies, Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws), Austria