The countdown to AECM's Annual Event has begun!

AECM Annual Event:
Athens, 15-17 June 2023

“The regulatory framework of SMEs: how close are we to the red line of red tape?”



Venue

Radisson Blu Park Hotel  

Alexandras Ave., 10
10682 Athens, Greece
Tel. +30 21 0889 4500

Our Great Speakers include:

Athina Chatzipetrou

CEO of the Hellenic Development Bank (HDB), Greece

Marjut Falkstedt

Chief Executive, European Investment Fund (EIF)

Mateusz Olszak

Director Guarantees and Sureties Department, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), Poland

Jonathan Denness

Head of Unit, Financial Instruments and International Financial Institutions Relations, Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO), European Commission

Chris Allen

Senior Expert, Resident Representative in Athens, Unit Greece, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission

Andreas Bergmann

Policy Officer – State Aid, Unit State aid: case support and policy, Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP), European Commission

Giorgio Chiarion Casoni

Director, InvestEU and financial institutions, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission

Kurt Leutgeb

Head of Guarantees and Equity, Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft mbH (aws), Austria

Astrid Bartels

Head of Unit, Access to Finance, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW), European Commission

Agata Mazurkiewicz

Head of Unit, State aid — Financial institutions II, Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP), European Commission

Ana Vizcaino Ochoa

Managing Director, Compañía Española de Reafianzamiento (CERSA), Spain

Kiril Velitchkov

Director European Projects and Financial Institutions, UBB, Bulgaria, Manager of KBC Group European Financial Instruments Competence Centre

Céline Kauffmann

Head of the Division on Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Tourism, Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities, OECD

Choi Won-mok

Chairperson & CEO, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT)

Panagoula Pasxali

Director-General, Ministry of Development and Competitiveness and SME Envoy of Greece

Gerhard Huemer

Director Economic Policy, SMEunited

Tony Greenham

Director ESG, British Business Bank (BBB), UK

Burçak İnel

Director of Financing Sustainable Growth, European Banking Federation (EBF)

Giovanni Zazzerini

Secretary General, INSME – The International Network for SMEs

Lina Konstantinopoulou

Policy Director, Eurochambres – the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry

Giuseppe Gramigna

Senior Advisor i.a. of the World Bank Group and of AECM

László Tóth

Deputy CEO, Rural Credit Guarantee Foundation (AVHGA), Hungary

Gernot Rößler

Deputy Managing Director, Verband Deutscher Bürgschaftsbanken (VDB), Germany

Luz Stella Lozano

Secretary General of the Association of the Ibero-American network of guarantees, REGAR

Jose Fernando Figueiredo

Special Honorary President of AECM with the special mandate for international relations and founding Co-Cordinator of the Global Network of Guarantee Institutions (GNGI)

Nagla Bahr

President of the Euro-Mediterranean Guarantee Network (EMGN) and Managing Director, Credit Guarantee Company, Egypt

Cha Ji Yeong

Deputy General Manager, Korea Federation of Credit Guarantee Foundations (KOREG), Korea

Mohammed Al-Jafari

Chairman of the Jordan Innovative Start-ups and SMEs Fund (ISSF) and Director General of the Jordan Loan Guarantee Corp. (JLGC)


Programme

in

Thursday

15 June 2023

Interpretation: EN, FR

13h00 – 14h00

Networking break with welcome snacks

14h00 – 14h45

Meeting of the internal ordinary General Assembly
registration and documents via member area of AECM’s website

14h45 – 15h00

Networking break

15h00 – 18h30

Public session of the General Assembly

15h00 – 15h15

Welcome & Opening

  • Guy Selbherr, President of AECM
  • Athina Chatzipetrou, CEO of the Hellenic Development Bank (HDB), Greece
15h15 -15h30

Keynote speech on the EIF’s support for SMEs: state of play and challenges

  • Marjut Falkstedt, Chief Executive, European Investment Fund (EIF)
15h30 -16h30

Panel 1: State aid, recovery plans, and ESI Funds: how to strengthen the link and improve the absorption capacity?

  • Moderator and introductory speaker: Mateusz Olszak, Director Guarantees and Sureties Department, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK)
  • Jonathan Denness, Head of Unit, Financial Instruments and International Financial Institutions Relations, Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO), European Commission
  • Chris Allen, Senior Expert, Resident Representative in Athens, Unit Greece, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission
  • Andreas Bergmann, Policy Officer – State Aid, Unit State aid: case support and policy, Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP), European Commission
16h30 -17h00

Networking break

17h00 -18h20

Is the implementation of the InvestEU Programme on track?

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

Panel 2 moderated by Kurt Leutgeb, Head of Guarantees and Equity, Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft mbH (aws), Austria

  • Astrid Bartels, Head of Unit, Access to Finance, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW), European Commission
  • Agata Mazurkiewicz, Head of Unit, State aid — Financial institutions II, Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP), European Commission
  • Ana Vizcaino Ochoa, Managing Director, Compañía Española de Reafianzamiento (CERSA), Spain
  • Kiril Velitchkov, Director European Projects and Financial Institutions, UBB, Bulgaria, Manager of KBC Group European Financial Instruments Competence Centre
18h20 -18h30

Concluding remarks & end of the public session

  • Guy Selbherr, President of AECM
20h00

Gala Dinner

Friday

16 June 2023

Interpretation: EN, FR 

09h30 – 15h00

Annual seminar on “The regulatory framework of SMEs: how close are we to the red line of red tape?”

09h30 – 09h40

Welcome & Opening

  • Guy Selbherr, President of AECM
  • Athina Chatzipetrou, CEO of the Hellenic Development Bank (HDB), Greece
09h40 – 10h10

Keynote addresses: how to improve the regulatory and policy environment for SMEs

  • Céline Kauffmann, Head of the Division on Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Tourism, Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities, OECD
  • Choi Won-mok, Chairperson & CEO, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT)
  • NN, Greece – tbd.
10h10 – 11h20

The regulatory environment to finance sustainability for SMEs

Introductory speaker: Pantelis Tzortzakis, Executive Vice-Chairman, Hellenic Development Bank (HDB), Greece

Panel 1 moderated by Gerhard Huemer, Director Economic Policy, SMEunited

  • Tony Greenham, Director ESG, British Business Bank (BBB), UK
  • Burçak İnel, Director of Financing Sustainable Growth, European Banking Federation (EBF)

  • Giovanni Zazzerini, Secretary General, INSME – The International Network for SMEs
  • Lina Konstantinopoulou, Policy Director, Eurochambres – the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry
11h20 – 11h40

Networking break

11h40 – 12h30

Panel 2: Regulatory framework: striking the right balance

  • Moderator and introductory speaker: Giuseppe Gramigna, Senior Advisor i.a. of the World Bank Group and of AECM

  • NN, Bank of Greece – tbd.

  • László Tóth, Deputy CEO, Rural Credit Guarantee Foundation (AVHGA), Hungary
  • Gernot Rößler, Deputy Managing Director, Verband Deutscher Bürgschaftsbanken (VDB), Germany

12h30 -13h30

Group photo followed by a networking break

13h30 – 14h45

Panel 3: The regulatory framework of SMEs from an international perspective

Introductory speaker: Luz Stella Lozano, Secretary General of the Association of the Ibero-American network of guarantees, REGAR 

Moderator: José Fernando Figueiredo, Special Honorary President of AECM with the special mandate for international relations and founding Co-Cordinator of the Global Network of Guarantee Institutions (GNGI)

  • Nagla Bahr, President of the Euro-Mediterranean Guarantee Network (EMGN) and Managing Director, Credit Guarantee Company, Egypt
  • Cha Ji Yeong, Deputy General Manager, Korea Federation of Credit Guarantee Foundations (KOREG), Korea
  • Mohammed Al-Jafari, Chairman of the Jordan Innovative Start-ups and SMEs Fund (ISSF) and Director General of the Jordan Loan Guarantee Corp. (JLGC)
14h45 – 15h00

Concluding remarks & presentation of the AECM annual event 2024

  • Guy Selbherr, President of AECM
  • Athina Chatzipetrou, CEO of the Hellenic Development Bank (HDB), Greece
  • Mateusz Olszak, Director Guarantees and Sureties Department, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), Poland, host of the AECM annual event in 2024
15h00 – 15h30

Networking break

15h30 – 17h30

  • 15h30 – 16h30 virtually
  • 16h35 – 17h30 face-to-face

Annual meeting of the GNGI

– For members only –

 


Fees and registration

  • AECM Seminar Fee – Member EUR 390 pp
  • AECM Seminar Fee – Non-Member EUR 440 pp

Leisure programme

Gala dinner:
Acropolis Museum

Thursday 15 June 2023
From 19h30

Located on the Museum’s second floor, the restaurant features a dining area with panoramic views of the Acropolis and other historic hills of Athens! 

EUR 150 pp

Excursion:
A daily cruise to the Greek islands
Hydra, Poros, and Aegina

Saturday 17 June 2023

• Embarkation time: 7:10–7:40 a.m.
• Return time: 7:40 p.m.

– REGISTRATION FOR THE CRUISE IS NOW CLOSED!

EUR 125 pp

– food and transportation with buses from the hotel to the port included


In case of any questions please contact info@aecm.eu