Nagla Bahr, Managing Director of the Credit Guarantee Company of Egypt (CGC) and Chairperson of the Euro-Mediterranean Guarantee Network – EMGN, represented EMGN at the European Association of Guarantee Institutions (AECM) Annual Event 2023. The event took place in Athens on 15-17 June 2023 under the title "The regulatory framework of SMEs: how close are we to the red line of red tape?" with the participation of various experts in the fields of finance, banking, and SMEs. The host of the event was the Hellenic Development Bank. On the first day of the event Nagla Bahr presented the Credit Guarantee Company of Egypt (CGC) which officially became a partner of the AECM during the meeting of the AECM General Assembly. On the second day of the event, Nagla Bahr was one of the speakers of the panel "The regulatory framework of SMEs from an international perspective. In her presentation, Nagla Bahr stressed on the importance of the proper positioning of the guarantee industry on the global economy map and the need for collective efforts by all schemes and networks to achieve this goal. She underlined that positioning should be granted particularly after the exceptional role played by the guarantee industry during and post pandemic and resulted in securing the stability of the financial markets by empowering the small businesses and enabling their business continuity during this difficult time. Nagla also highlighted that this is the right momentum to pursue this route, particularly with the global call for an expanded role of the guarantee due to the current global economic crisis and the high vulnerability of the small businesses. She referred to the importance of the guarantee schemes themselves to revisit their business model(s) and to ensure a sustainable model is in place associated with proper operational framework to enable business growth within a healthy environment. She also stressed on the importance of developing a clear framework of governments' support to the guarantee industry, through which specific lines of finance are granted and favorable regulations, suiting the special nature of the industry, are developed. She also thanked the European Association of Guarantee Institutions and the Hellenic Development Bank for the distinctive event. It is worth mentioning that CGC succeeded, in collaboration with Egyptian banks, to secure a portfolio exceeding 269 billion EGP benefiting more than 206 thousand SMEs by the end of the first quarter of 2023, with 50% directed to youth and 23% to women. CGC Egypt is the only company entrusted with issuing guarantees in Egypt, through facilitated governmental and international support since its inception in 1991 CGC-Egypt is under the supervision of the Central Bank of Egypt.
