AECM: Holds annual meeting for the first time in Athens

The “closed” annual meeting of the European Guarantee Institution AECM (European Association of Guarantee Institutions) will take place for the first time in Athens, at the Radisson Blu Park Hotel, from June 15 to 17, 2023.

As part of the meeting, the annual AECM seminar on “The regulatory framework of

: How familiar are we with the bureaucracy?” will be held.

The participants coming to Athens from different countries will have the opportunity to learn and discuss all the developments concerning the future and the challenges of small and medium enterprises.

The meeting, as well as the conference, will be attended by members of Management and leading executives of guarantor agencies from all over the world.

AECM consists of 47 members, in 30 different countries. All its members have a common mission to support small and medium enterprises and provide loan guarantees. Since its establishment in 1992, it has provided guarantees to more than 5.9 million small and medium-sized enterprises, a size corresponding to more than 25% of SMEs in Europe.

The general meeting, as well as the annual meeting of the AECM, are hosted in Athens by the Hellenic Development Bank (HDB), which is represented in its management by the managing director, Ms. Athena Hatzipetrou.

Recently the Hellenic Development Bank announced four financing programs totaling 2.5 billion euros included in the “Know your customer” initiative. The program will provide access to bank lending to 60,000 small and medium-sized businesses that are healthy and aware but were excluded from banks due to size. The “Know your customer” platform will be interconnected with AADE, EFKA and Teiresias in order to certify the tax compliance , insurance awareness and the solvency of the companies concerned. On the same platform, entrepreneurs will submit their business plans in a standardized form and declare the banks they want to approach, while there will be barriers aimed at the banks’ response.