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Promoting Structural Change for a New Sustainable Europe

Under the title “Promoting structural change for a new sustainable Europe,” the European Association of Guarantee Institutions (AECM) held its 2022 Annual Conference in Vienna, Austria.

The event took place from September 14 to September 17.  It gathered experts working in the field of SMEs and sustainability to discuss how to best support SMEs during crises and funding towards a green transition.

AECM has 47 member organisations operating in 30 European countries. 4 of its members are private / mutual sector guarantee schemes, 39 are fully public institutions, which are either guarantee funds or Development banks with a guarantee division, and 4 are private - public mixed.

All members share the mission of providing loan guarantees for SMEs who have an economically sound project but cannot provide sufficient bankable collateral. At the end of 2021, AECM member organisations had a total guarantee volume in portfolio of over 312 billion EUR supporting 5.9 million SMEs.