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Chief Economists Roundtable
The Montreal Group is a forum linking subject matter experts through key topic groups. The Chief Economists meet monthly to comment on various economic rebound subjects and the macroeconomic impact of the crisis on MSMEs. They have participated in workshops about Impact Measurement and Additionality.
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Annual Meeting of The Montreal Group
TMG holds annual meetings, rotating across member countries. For the past three years (2020, 2021 and 2022) the meetings took place by virtual means.
In normal times, members of the Board and the Experts from the Key Topic Groups meet in person over a 2-3 day-event.
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Key Topic Groups Final Presentations
All our Key Topic Groups (KTG) share their final deliveries at the Annual Meeting and/or by means of an official Webinar open to all. Most of the time, the Experts deliver an oral presentation as well as a hard copy of their final work. In this image, we can see the members of the Key Topic Group on "Scaling Up Mid-Sized Firms" presenting in Beijing, within the offices of China Development Bank.
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Mid-year CEO gatherings
The Montreal Group organizes gatherings for CEOs of SME-focused public banks from around the world. These summits are a unique opportunity to build relationships with like-minded leaders of similar organizations from around the world.
On June 13th & 14th CEOs travelled to London to learn how to best support SMEs in their journey to sustainability, and how to become more digital and inclusive.
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One-off Benchmark Calls
One-off benchmark calls are a special initiative where a closed-door session on a selected topic of interest is facilitated for members to exchange information and share concerns and questions with peers and external experts.
A privileged way to ask open questions and learn valuable information from peers from around the world in a fraction of the time it would take if we were to read about the subject! Some of the topics covered so far include Cleantech + International expansion of SMEs + Loan Guarantee Schemes + Women Entrepreneurs to name a few.
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Repository of best practices
The Montreal Group develops thought leadership material to strengthen the global MSME ecosystem.
This material is published as white papers, benchmarks and final reports. The global experts present the key findings in seminars.
These webinars are a great opportunity for members to engage in discussion with attendees and other experts joining the virtual delivery.
What We Focus On
The Montreal Group’s activities are generally focused around Key Topic Groups. The subjects are chosen by the members and respond to emerging areas of interest or challenges. Key Topic Groups are formed by Subject Matter Experts from each member bank and meet via video conferences throughout the year.
The Chief Economists Roundtable is formed by representatives from our member organizations. Additionally, the Chief Economists of the following guest organizations are invited to participate in the roundtables: the British Business Bank (BBB) and the Japan Finance Corporation (JFC). In 2021, this group met monthly to comment on various economic rebound subjects and the macroeconomic impact of the crisis on MSMEs. Understanding the importance of measuring the impact of the bank’s activities on the entrepreneurs, the Chief Economists also participated in a 3- hour-workshop on Impact Evaluation in November 2021.
Since 2021, the agenda of the Group is concentrated on supporting members to better understand:
1. The role of public banks in accelerating MSMEs' journey to sustainability and in achieving the Paris and the SDG goals and;
2. How MSME public banks can integrate sustainability and environmental, social and governance considerations into their strategies, policies, procedures and financial and non-financial offering.
Sustainability Sounding Board: In the last quarter of 2021, a new Sounding Board to lead the sustainability agenda was created. A first exercise to produce a Self-Assessment Diagnostic Tool for profiling and positioning each member bank along a maturity continuum towards a green/sustainable culture was designed and developed with the support of the external firm GYConsulting.
Beyond Financial Assistance: Understanding that MSMEs need more than financing to overcome crises such as the recent pandemic or the climate one, in 2021, the Non-Financial Offerings for MSMEs in times of COVID-19 and post-crisis group continued meeting regularly. In the summer of 2021, the group decided to pivot the focus of its work to discuss the role of Non-Financial Services to sustain MSMEs in their sustainability journey and transition to net zero.
Finally, with the aim of fostering collaboration, the Secretariat of The Montreal Group is facilitating a series of One-off Benchmark discussions around key topics of common interest for its members to learn and exchange with their peers from around the world such as: Cleantech Financing, IP Financing, Support to Women Entrepreneurs, Internationalization of SMEs and loan guarantee schemes.
