EBRD decorates successful participants in Trade Facilitation Programme

TFP information session and award ceremony in Tbilisi on the eve of Bank’s Annual Meeting

 

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has honoured the most successful participants in its Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP) 2014 in an award ceremony on the eve of the Bank’s Annual Meeting and Business Forum in Tbilisi today.

 

The ceremony was part of the TFP’s annual information session, which attracted over 200 representatives from issuing and confirming banks under the programme as well as decision-makers in trade finance to discuss industry challenges with leading specialists including regulators and economists.

 

Alexander Saveliev, EBRD Director, Financial Institutions, opened the event with a speech detailing the evolution of the programme since 1999 followed by a welcome address to the audience from Vakhtang Butskhrikidze, Chief Executive Officer of TBC Bank, Georgia, which is one of the main sponsors of the conference.

 

“For many years the EBRD’s TFP has helped to develop the trade finance business of TBC Bank and we are very pleased to see the 2015 information session and award ceremony taking place in our country,” said Mr. Butskhrikidze, underlining the importance of trade finance for TBC Bank and the wider banking sector in Georgia.

 

Main topics of discussion were the latest trends and developments in factoring and supply-chain finance. With the exception of a few countries, the factoring business remains largely underdeveloped or non-existent in the EBRD regions. Leading specialists from factoring companies and organisations including Factors Chain International and the International Trade and Forfaiting Association discussed the development of this product in EBRD countries and ways to provide companies with wider access to this source of financing.

 

A second panel concentrated on imports of energy efficient machinery and equipment. Terry McCallion, EBRD Director, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change, outlined the importance of energy efficiency in trade finance as a lot of cross-border trade relates to such products. Representatives of Commerzbank, Germany, and Ukreximbank, Ukraine, illustrated how they specifically support energy efficient trade with the aim of also inspiring other banks to become more active in this field.

 

Presentations by representatives of the World Trade Organization, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the EBRD’s Office of the Chief Economist provided an update on trade and trade finance statistics as well as the latest trends and challenges in the industry, with a comprehensive outlook for the rest of year. 

 

The panel discussions and presentations were followed by the highly anticipated TFP award ceremony for the most active TFP banks in 2014. The awards were presented by Nick Tesseyman, EBRD Managing Director, Financial Institutions, and Ambassador Chih-Kung Liu, Head of the Taipei Representative Office in the UK and second main sponsor of the event.

 

Before handing out the awards, Mr. Liu outlined the benefits of international trade for banks supported by the TFP, introduced Taiwanese trade and banking activities and encouraged the attendees to do business with the country.

 

The 2014 winners were:

 

 

The event was concluded with a dinner reception, accompanied by the Sukhishvili Georgian National Ballet, during which international attendees had the opportunity to enjoy traditional Georgian hospitality while making new business contacts in the region. The dinner was hosted by Georgia’s TBC Bank.

 

Launched in 1999, the TFP aims to promote foreign trade to, from and among EBRD recipient countries. The TFP currently includes over 100 partner banks in 26 of the countries where the Bank invests, with limits exceeding €1.5 billion in total, and more than 800 confirming banks worldwide.