The FINANCIAL — The EBRD has taken another step to widen the application of trade finance in Greece with a successful workshop in Athens this week.
A total of 153 participants attended the two-day workshop, which provided an introduction to local banks and staff of corporates and small and medium-sized enterprises active in international trade. The event was co-hosted by the Hellas International Chamber of Commerce and supported by Alpha Bank, Eurobank, National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank, according to EBRD.
The workshop also served as a preparatory event for participants wishing to acquire an internationally recognised qualification known as the Certificate in International Trade and Finance (CITF).
Sabina Dziurman, EBRD Regional Director for Greece and Cyprus, said: “Promoting and facilitating trade finance is one of the EBRD’s core goals in Greece as this will support the reintegration of the Greek economy into the regional and global economy. Never has this been more timely than now. And this support is not only a question of finance, it is also a question of capacity-building and creating competencies. Greek importers and exporters will be the first to benefit from the results of this training and the EBRD is proud to be actively involved.”
The EBRD launched its Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP) in 1999 and it has been the recipient of numerous awards. The Programme aims to promote foreign trade to, from and among the EBRD countries of operations and offers a range of products to facilitate this trade.
Through the Programme the EBRD provides guarantees to international confirming banks, taking the political and commercial payment risk of international trade transactions undertaken by banks in the countries of operations (the issuing banks).
The EBRD’s TFP currently includes 96 partner banks in 26 countries where the EBRD invests, with limits exceeding €1.5 billion in total and more than 800 confirming banks worldwide.
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