Supporting small and medium-sized enterprises

Hellenic Bank organised the “Helping small and medium enterprises, in Limassol and Paphos, to grow” conference

In a period full of challenges and difficulties for the Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs), the “Helping small and medium enterprises, in Limassol and Paphos, to grow” conference took place. The conference was organized by Hellenic Bank in collaboration with IMH, Epic and UCLan Cyprus on Wednesday 16th of March 2022 in Limassol. Participants had the opportunity to share experiences and discuss about their daily concerns, their challenges and aspirations.

SMEs are the backbone of Cyprus economy. However, the recent challenges and difficulties makes it extremely difficult for them. To ensure their long-term sustainability, they must keep evolving and renewing their competitive advantages and at the same time adapt to the rapidly changing market conditions. Up-to-date technological infrastructure is a key component for their success, in order to increase their productivity and competitiveness. Issues such as the ways in which SMEs can improve and grow through European and government Schemes as well as innovative ideas were presented.

One of the main speakers at the conference was Andreas Papadopoulos, Head of Commercial Banking at Hellenic Bank, who stressed that the relationship between bank and business is win-win or lose-lose. As he mentioned, one in five households in Cyprus has its own business as opposed to 1 in 10 in the EU, a fact that shows that the Cypriots "have the entrepreneurship in their core".

Explaining the bank’s role in regard to businesses, but also what a banking institution expects from its customers, he said that a key tool for evaluating business customers is the audited financial statements, which are the mirror of the business. "The main parameters that interest the bank are the customer's sales, the existence of a satisfactory profit margin, the dispersion of sales and the successive situation. Based on the above, the lending officers prepare every year a written analysis and presentation of the company's creditworthiness to the approval authorities ", concluding that "we are in a very competitive environment with constant changes. With Hellenic Bank, companies have a strong partner by their side."