On March 30, 2004, the 6th Conference on Country Risk, organized by the risk insurance company COFACE, took place in Madrid. Held at the Casino de Madrid, the more than 200 participants had the opportunity throughout the day to learn directly from the experts who gave the presentations, gaining the most qualified and professional opinions on country risk and collection risks across all continents.
The Conference, following its opening remarks by François David, President of the COFACE Group, focused on three key areas. First, Alejandra Kindelán, Director of Research at the Santander Group, gave a detailed presentation on the recent developments, current situation, and outlook for the major economies in 2004. She concluded that the US economy is driving the global economy, making the current situation positive and increasing confidence that the results will become clearer by year's end. This first part concluded with a specific reference to the vast Chinese market, which appears as both promising and inaccessible, according to Fermin Ezquer of TCB Strategies, who examined specific examples.
The second part focused on the important European market, including the countries that joined the EU. Both Sylvia Greisman and Martina Dobringer, from the COFACE Group, agreed that the situations in Eastern European countries are positive, although they are making significant adaptation efforts and therefore exhibit some imbalances. With a few exceptions, the rest enjoy very favorable ratings, resulting in broad and diversified business opportunities. EU countries, except for Portugal and Italy, enjoy exceptional ratings regarding their companies' payment compliance, based on the incipient recovery.
The session concluded with a presentation on the risk control system established by AGRUPAEJIDO, given by Juan Manuel Azuaga, who practically shared his experience with the participants.
The final segment focused on the Americas, including both Latin America and the United States. Regarding the latter, the current rapid economic growth, coupled with the swiftness of legal proceedings in cases of non-payment, has earned the country a high rating for corporate payment performance. As for Latin America, the overall outlook is positive, although a more in-depth analysis of each country's situation is necessary. Chile has the highest rating, followed by Brazil and others; Mexico appears to be struggling to overcome its problems, and Venezuela's future is uncertain, according to the opinions of Sylvia Greisman of COFACE and Nuria Gordo of UNISTRAT.
The specific analysis of Argentina was carried out by Guillermo Cardoza of the INSTITUTO DE EMPRESA, who broke down the political and sociological causes that have led Argentina to its crisis situation from which there is still no clear evidence of a way out.
The conference concluded with a presentation by Xavier Denecker, Manager of COFACE Ibérica, who practically outlined the origin of the main collection risks, the measures and actions to be taken by companies, and the support that COFACE offers through its various coverage instruments.
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