The annual event of the European Association of Guarantee Institutions (AECM) will take place in Athens this year, at the Radisson Blu Park Hotel, from June 15 to 17, 2023.
The General Assembly, as well as the annual meeting of the AECM, are hosted for the first time in Athens by the Hellenic Development Bank (HDB), represented by the CEO, Ms. Athina Chatzipetrou.
- As part of the meeting, the AECM will be hosting its annual seminar on the topic of “The regulatory framework of SMEs: how close are we to the red line of red tape?”
Participants coming to Athens from various countries will have the opportunity to learn and discuss all the developments concerning the future and challenges of small and medium-sized enterprises.
The annual event will be attended by members of the Management and top-level executives representing guarantee institutions from around the world.
- AECM is a strong and established organization, comprised of 47 members, across 30 different countries.
The common mission of AECM members is to support small and medium-sized enterprises to get access to finance.
Guarantee schemes take up a counter-cyclical role in times of economic stress. This can be seen by an increase of 25% of the outstanding guarantee volume of AECM members during the financial crisis of the late noughties and an even much more pronounced increase of 200% during COVID. The number of supported SMEs increased by 80% in 2020.
Guarantee institutions in Europe support almost 5.2 million SMEs.
- With an active international presence, the AECM organization, serves as a platform for its members to engage in information exchange, professional training, education, while sharing best practices..
The Hellenic Development Bank (HDB), as a member of the AECM, supports every significant initiative that enhances extroversion and encourages entrepreneurship. It also plays a significant role in creating the necessary conditions to mobilize new, productive, and sustainable investments.
In addition to this, HDB has the ability to engage in global knowledge exchange and adopt best practices, while gaining access to important information including statistics and studies.
HDB also participates in joint representation initiatives in European and international organizations.
- Recently, our country has gained an even more active role in the European Association of Guarantee Institutions (AECM) after the election of Ms. Athina Chatzipetrou as a member of the AECM’s Board of Directors (about 8 months ago) and as Chairwoman of the Communication and Marketing Working Group.
For more information about the AECM’s annual event, click here.
