TFP Trade Finance Forum 2018, Georgia
The EBRD held its seventh annual EBRD TFP Trade Finance Forum in Tbilisi on the 18 and 19 October 2018
Marco Nindl, EBRD, introduces Giorgi Kobulia, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, to open the Forum
The EBRD held its seventh annual EBRD TFP Trade Finance Forum in Tbilisi on the 18 and 19 October 2018. In past years this event has been successfully held in Vienna, Frankfurt, London and Istanbul.
More than 200 representatives from over 100 financial institutions and trade finance organisations from more than 40 countries came together to discuss the latest trends, developments, challenges and opportunities in trade finance.
Giorgi Kobulia, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, opened the conference, longside Bruno Balvanera, Managing Director for Central Asia, EBRD, and Alexander Saveliev, Director, Financial Institutions, EBRD.
The event was sponsored by local partners Bank of Georgia, Basis Bank and TBC Bank, as well as international partners.
The event was outstanding. The team spirit, care, attention to detail, passion and love and hard work of the TFP team was very much in evidence. On behalf of Georgia and as one proud Georgian citizen, thank you!
This was one of the most fruitful, informative, well organised and enjoyable events that I have ever attended.
Thank you for the invitation to Georgia and enabling us to briefly talk about our small region. Apart from meeting many colleagues and trade finance experts and expanding our relationships, we also enjoyed experiencing beautiful Georgia.
I am delighted that this year Tbilisi was honoured to host the EBRD’s 7th TFP Trade Finance Forum. It was the largest TFP event in the history of the EBRD and this reiterates Georgia’s significance as a regional hub in international trade. Trade enhances globalisation, bringing countries closer together and making them more accessible, and the EBRD plays a huge role in helping the private sector to be part of this global trade initiative.
It was a great opportunity to meet partner banks and discuss the latest trends. As well as the presentations and panel sessions, I really enjoyed the performance of Sukhishvili, as well as the excursion on the Friday, and this is the opinion of all the participants I spoke to.
It was a pleasure to attend the event and be on the panel. I thought the EBRD team did a first-class job and set the scene for some meaningful debate, networking and collaboration.
It was an honour to be part of such a knowledgeable and interesting panel. Thank you for also including Nordea.
The event filled its brief in every way: informative on trade issues, and a great opportunity for networking while enjoying a warm and pleasant atmosphere.
As a newcomer to the programme, the Forum was very helpful and the opportunity to meet so many colleagues from different banks was of great value.
The topics and discussions were interesting, speakers and panels very good, as were the networking opportunities, the dinner and the trip after the conference. I left Tbilisi with many unforgettable memories.
