EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP) was developed in order to promote and facilitate international trade to, from and within Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region. Within the TFP framework, guarantees are provided to international commercial banks, thereby covering the political and commercial payment risk of transactions undertaken by participating banks (issuing banks) in EBRD’s countries of operation. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) also teamed up with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and launched the Trade Finance e-Learning Programme. The aim is to help issuing banks involved in EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP) to achieve the best international practice in trade finance.
The EBRD TFP Forum held in Frankfurt included particularly interesting presentations and important speakers and attracted about 180 banking and trade finance professionals. The event provided participants with the opportunity to discuss the challenges that the industry faces with leading specialists. The opening remarks were given by Johan Ernst, EBRD Alternate Board Director Germany, and by the Ambassador Jhy Wey Shieh, Taipei Representative Office in the Federal Republic of Germany, who welcomed EBRD’s engagement in the area of trade finance which will foster integration and growth.
Through EBRD’s TFP event, factoring and supply chain finance have also been promoted allowing a dedicated session with panelists including Peter Mulroy, Secretary General of Factors Chain International, as well as international factoring consultants and representatives of new factors in Mongolia and Georgia. During this session participants shared opinions around the challenges of running this particular financial service in countries with lack of factoring education and factoring legislation, the importance of technology and the use of specialised software systems, as well as the disruptive impact of digitisation of processes and transactions on the industry. The 2-day forum was followed by The FCI + IFG Practical Workshop on International Factoring which was also held in Frankfurt, Germany, on September 21st, in cooperation with EBRD.
In order to keep up with the latest trends in the industry, Neurosoft attended both of these events and enjoyed excellent networking opportunities, as well as an exchange of views and ideas with important specialists in the field of factoring.