OREANDA-NEWS. The 44th session of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Working Group on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises took place in Paris.

Vnesheconombank Deputy Chairman - Member of the Board Mikhail Kopeikin participated in the session speaking about Vnesheconombank's participation in pursuing government SME policy, new mechanisms and forms of supporting small and medium-sized enterprises developed and introduced by VEB.

A main theme of the discussion at the session was the OECD Center for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises report on conducting an analytical study of SME's status and development in the Russian Federation. The said project was carried out on Vnesheconombank's initiative with the assistance of the Russian Economic Development Ministry. The study will result in generating data comparable with other OECD countries on the development of the SME segment in the Russian Federation and on the efficiency of the state's measures for supporting this sector. This project is also viewed as an important element of mutual exchange and close ties between Russia and OECD countries as part of Russia's joining the said organization.

After the session Mikhail Kopeikin held talks with Director of the OECD Center for SME Sergio Arzeni. They discussed further steps as part of cooperation between Vnesheconombank and OECD in the SME sector. S. Arzeni stressed high efficiency of joint efforts with Vnesheconombank and offered to explore the possibility of expanding cooperation including Vnesheconombank experts' participation in the projects of the OECD Center for SME as well as inclusion of Vnesheconombank's experts in OECD coordinating bodies responsible for programs associated with the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.

M.Kopeikin also held a working meeting with the management of France's development bank BPIFrance. At the meeting the two sides confirmed their mutual accords on cooperation in SME between Russian and French development institutions including cooperation in innovations. The two sides exchanged opinions on developing guarantee support for SME. They also discussed issues related to signing agreements between Vnesheconombank and BPIFrance in innovative support for small and medium-sized enterprises.