2nd Annual Nordic Region Trade & Export Finance Forum

Event Review

The future of trade and exports in the Nordics came under the spotlight this week as the region's trade experts convened in Gothenburg for the 2nd Annual Nordic Region Trade & Export Finance Forum, which took place on November 11.

As the only specific trade finance gathering for the Nordics, the conferance welcomed a stellar line-up of leading banks, corporates, insurers and consultants to address the numerous concerns affecting a market heavily affected by the global economic recession.

The conference was opened by Eva Bjorling, Minister of Trade, who provided an overview of the trade prospects in the region, emphasising the importance of focusing on core strengths such as market transparency, technological innovation and sustainability.

Combining various expert presentations with lively and thought provoking discussions, the forum addressed a number of key themes, including trade flows, risk assessment, working capital management, corporate case studies and opportunities within emerging markets such as Asia.

Description

Exporta’s Nordic Trade & Export Finance Forum 2009 in Gothenburg will build upon the themes and topics that arose from the highly successful meeting held last November in the heartland of Nordic manufacturing.

We shall look at the latest innovations in both the banking and corporate sectors to optimise working capital in partnership with each other, thus supporting vulnerable supply chains that span the globe. Transparency, multi-bank platforms and standardised messaging are the buzz-words this year as the more savvy businesses realise they have to work together much more closely to squeeze margins and eschew loyalty in favour of more cost-effective solutions.

Efforts to self-liquidise are becoming the CFO's main priority in this environment of mutual uncertainty as more and more established names either go under or pull out of traditional markets. Governments are stepping in to provide finance and support through their ECAs but how far can their mandates be stretched? We ask our experts of private and state insurers and bankers when they think the market will bounce back and what can their clients do in the meantime?

Who should attend?

• CFOs, corporate treasurers and financial advisors from leading Nordic corporates
• Bankers
• Insurers
• Brokers
• Export credit agencies
• Technical advisors
• Lawyers

Event Photos

Brochure

Programme

Nordic Region Trade and Export Finance Forum
Wednesday 11th November 2009, Gothenburg, Sweden

08.00 Registration

08.50 Chairman’s welcome
Dominic Broom,  Head of Treasury Services Market Development, EMEA, BNY Mellon

09.00 Considering the day’s agenda
Patrik Zekkar, Head of Trade Finance, Sweden, SEB

09.15 Keynote speech: issues and challenges faced in the Nordic region
Ewa Björling, Minister for Trade, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Government of Sweden
• Overcoming global economic uncertainty
• Reviewing future prospects and new markets
• Outlining opportunities for potential trade partners
• Focusing on core strengths: market transparency, technological innovation, sustainability

09.45 Current market challenges: an economist’s viewpoint
Magnus Prim, Chief Strategist, Trading & Capital Markets, Asia, SEB
• Can Asia achieve the elusive v-shaped recovery?
• How to identify which countries will perform best in Asia
• Is China decoupled from the world economy?
• Opportunities, challenges and risks going forward

10.15 Networking break

10.45 Panel discussion: issues and challenges in a changing risk scenario
Moderator: Dominic Broom, Head of Treasury Services Market Development, EMEA, BNY Mellon
Magnus Prim, Chief Strategist, Trading & Capital Markets, Asia, SEB
Axel Miller, Principal, Oliver Wyman
Göran Albertsson, President, Volvo Financial Services International
Kerstin Gedung, Executive Director & Head of Structured Finance, AB Svensk Exportkredit (SEK)
• Are companies placing increasing focus on managing counter-party and performance risks?
• Is credit availability deteriorating globally and how does this affect the Nordic region?
• Is there an increased regional demand for trade risk mitigation and can Nordic banks alone support this demand?
• Do risk distribution channels remain largely closed, or is there a sign that they are reopening?
• Are tried and tested methods such as LCs and ECA insurance back in favour?

11.45 Global Trade: different scenarios and how to position strategically
Axel Miller, Principal, Oliver Wyman
• Which are the relevant scenarios for the future regulatory environment of global trade?
• How will this impact the direction of trade flows?
• Which are likely to be the future growth areas in trade finance?
• How should banks position to capture strategic opportunities?

12.15 Using structured trade finance to weather the tempest in the steel sector
Thomas Patrick, Finance Director, Duferco International Trading Holding
• Providing a brief history of the formation and evolution of the Duferco Group
• Synergies between the trading and industrial holdings within Duferco: a unique combination within the steel industry
• Working quickly and flexibly to provide financial assistance and manage working capital needs
• The road ahead / strategy for the future

 12.45 The Trade Community for Trade Finance Specialist (www.thebenche.com) - one year later
Lars Millberg, Global Head of Trade Finance, SEB
• Reflection from the founder
• The life of a trade community

13.00 Lunch

14.15 Best practice: room for improvement
Roger Lundegård, Principal, Capgemini Consulting Sweden
• Challenges in managing complex value chains
• Current issues hindering performance in modern organisations
• Design principles to improve organisational performance
• Key success factors in designing and implementing optimised high-performance organisations

14.45 Panel discussion: risk and working capital management
Moderator: Patrik Zekkar, Head of Trade Finance, Sweden, SEB
Thomas Patrick, Finance Director, Duferco International Trading Holding
Anders Akner, Director, Advisory Services, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Reinout van Riel, Head of Trade EMEA, RBS
Christina Christenson, Director, Customer Finance Development, Volvo Trucks
Lars Hagne, Head of Trade Finance sales, Norway, SEB
• Optimising working capital and maintaining liquidity
• Maximising efficiency of trade and supply chain finance processes
• Governance of working capital: where does the responsibility lie?
• Maintaining close examination of trade flows and meeting market demand

15.45 Networking break

16.15 Panel discussion: identifying and mitigating risk in export finance
Moderator: Kit Brownlees, Managing Director, Political, Project & Credit Risks, Gallagher London
Fredrik Enderlein, Partner, Brim
Adrian Lewers, Head of Political & Contingency Risks, Beazley Group
Claes Calemark, First Vice-President & Head of Region Latin America, Nordea Bank
Henrik Welch, Senior Director, Guarantees and Project Finance, Eksport Kredit Fonden (EKF)
Gert Eriksson, Director, Small and Medium sized Enterprises, EKN

• Political and credit risk insurance: the outlook for the private insurance market
• Issues for the banks when dealing with the private insurance market: benefits and problems
• How do / can ECAs and the private market best work together?

17.15 Chairman’s closing summary and remarks

17.20 Drinks reception

Venue

Accommodation

Delegates are responsible for the arrangement of their own travel and accommodation. Details on how to book accommodation will be sent to each delegate when they register to attend the conference.

Sponsors

Sponsorship opportunities including exhibition stands are available for this event.

To become a sponsor, please contact Tom Whitehead, Head of Sponsorship Sales at twhitehead@exportagroup.com.

Exporta's events have a global reputation, renowned for superb networking opportunities and educational presentations by high-profile speakers.

Time after time our events attract the leading companies in our market as sponsors.

See below for a full list of our Event Sponsors, Institutional Partners and Media Partners and click on the logo to visit their web site. 

Delegate Packs