ICO and KfW sign cooperation agreement to promote the exchange of personnel
Frankfurt (ots)
Today, Román Escolano, Chairman of the Spanish Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), and Dr Ulrich Schröder, CEO of the German KfW Bankengruppe (KfW), signed a cooperation agreement in Frankfurt. The agreement aims to renew and expand the exchange of personnel and experts between the two specialised credit institutions.
"The signing of this agreement provides a clear impetus for the collaboration agreed by the two institutions in September last year during the Spanish-German Business Conference held in Madrid", indicated Román Escolano. During this event, Escolano and Schröder held a meeting to identify the fields of cooperation. Thus, both chairmen share the view that the agreement signed today is highly important as it will enable KfW and ICO to share and promote the best practices they are developing in their respective countries under the current economic climate.
An initial exchange programme implemented in 2005 has already been used by both sides. Based on the now renewed agreement, experts from both ICO and KfW will respectively acquire deeper knowledge of the business activities and promotional instruments applied. The two banks can agree on either a short term (2 weeks) or a long term (up to 6 months) deployment to intensify their exchange of experiences as well as the networking between their institutions. As they have similar business models, both will benefit from this programme in equal measure.
"The fact that our employees are able to study shared business areas with such an exemplary institution as KfW and to work on the design of programmes that will boost the overseas expansion of Spanish companies, one of our key strategic aims in 2013, brings added value to ICO", the Chairman of the Spanish state-owned bank underlined.
"Bolstering confidence and mutual understanding amongst European partners is of growing importance not only in terms of overcoming the financial and economic crisis, but also to foster convergence in Europe. ICO plays an important role in overcoming the current financial and economic crisis in Spain", said Ulrich Schröder. "As the promotional bank of the Federal Republic of Germany, KfW takes responsibility by strengthening international partnerships amongst financial institutions and by actively enforcing European networks. And ICO is one of our most important partner institutions in Europe." A long-lasting cooperation amongst European specialised credit institutions has been established in different associations and in particular within the European Promotional Network 'NEFI'.
About ICO:
Instituto de Crédito Oficial is a State-owned bank attached to the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. With its 40-year history, ICO has become a benchmark credit institution in the financing of both SME and large-scale infrastructure projects, not only in Spain but also abroad.
About KfW:
Established in 1948 as a public law institution, KfW is today owned 80% by the Federal Republic of Germany and 20% by the federal states ("Länder"). KfW is devoted to the principle of sustainability and takes particular responsibility for the protection of the environment and the climate. Its main activities are the promotion of SMEs, financing of the housing sector and of municipalities, export and project finance as well as the promotion of developing and transitional countries.
Contact:
KfW, Palmengartenstr. 5 - 9, 60325 Frankfurt
Kommunikation (KOM); Nathalie Drücke,
Phone: +49 (0)69 7431 2098, Fax: +49 (0)69 7431 3266,
E-Mail: presse@kfw.de, Internet: www.kfw.de