OREANDA-NEWS. Vnesheconombank, SME Bank and the KfW Banking Group held a Russian-German Conference "Regional Programs of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises - Germany's Business Experience and Possibilities for Implementing it in Russia". The conference's participants studied German business experience in providing support for SMEs at the regional level and discussed prospects for using international practices in Russian regions.

In the attendance of the conference were representatives of government authorities and constituent entities of the Russian Federation as well as Germany's authorities and administrations responsible for issues of economic development and support for SMEs, representatives of SME support infrastructure institutions from Russia and Germany, management of Russian banks - partners of SME Bank.

Giving a welcoming address to the conference's participants Vnesheconombank Deputy Chairman - Member of the Board Mikhail Kopeikin said, "KfW is a reliable partner in all Vnesheconombank's lines of activity and the most important source of long-term investments for Russian small and medium-sized enterprises. Since 2009, Vnesheconombank has raised about 500 million euros (20 billion rubles) which were used to fund the SME sector which is of paramount importance for any country's economy.

Kopeikin also stressed that Germany's federal government is particularly active in supporting small and medium-sized enterprises. In this respect, business experience in supposing SMEs is of special significance for Russia, given great potential for the development of SMEs in Russia.

The Russian delegation visited a Bavarian biochemical cluster - Bio Biotech Cluster Development GmbH to share experience in creating and developing territorial clusters. Particular attention was given to small and medium-sized enterprises' participation in such projects.

In the course of the working trip the conference's participants held meetings with the management of Bavaria's Development Bank and representatives of the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Mass Media, Energy and Technology in the course of which they identified main lines of their further cooperation.