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XVIII Ibero-American Forum on SME Guarantees and Financing in Bariloche
From September 24 to 26, San Carlos de Bariloche hosted the XVIII Ibero-American Forum on Guarantee Systems and SME Financing, organized by REGAR, CFI, and the Province of Río Negro. Governors, authorities from a lot of Latin American countries, along with Spain and Portugal, public and private guarantee entities, banks, multilateral organizations, and specialists from across Ibero-America came together to exchange experiences and analyze the challenges of productive financing.
On Wednesday, September 24, the REGAR General Assembly took place. On Thursday, September 25, the opening ceremony was held, led by the Governor of Río Negro, Alberto Weretilneck, together with the Secretary General of CFI, Ignacio Lamothe, with welcoming remarks from the Mayor of Bariloche, Walter Cortés, and the President of REGAR, Pedro Pisonero Pérez. The day continued with a keynote lecture on financing and investment in the context of the new economies, delivered by Daniel Titelman, former Director of the Financing for Development Division at ECLAC and Non-Resident Senior Researcher at Boston University.
Next came the panel discussion “The Role of Guarantees in the Development of Regional Economies,” where the Governors of Jujuy, Carlos Sadir; La Pampa, Sergio Ziliotto; Misiones, Hugo Passalacqua; Salta, Gustavo Sáenz; and San Juan, Marcelo Orrego, along with the Vice-Governor of La Rioja, Teresita Madera, shared their experiences with provincial guarantee funds.
Later, the Argentine guarantee system with a public-private approach was discussed, followed by panels on regulatory frameworks, digital transformation, and parallel workshops that opened spaces for applied debates on infrastructure, financial inclusion, innovation, and new guarantee products.
On Friday, September 26, activities continued with a presentation on the Statistical Observatory of Guarantee Systems in Ibero-America. This was followed by panels on the role of multilateral organizations, successful experiences in guarantee expansion, and a session dedicated to green, social, and gender-perspective guarantees. Workshops also focused on strategic sectors, risks, and technology. The forum concluded with the presentation of final conclusions, the announcement of the next host city, and the awarding of recognitions.
Throughout the event, the Forum was consolidated as a regional reference space to discuss guarantee mechanisms and their role in financial inclusion, innovation, and SME sustainability, with particular attention to the challenges of regional economies and the joint institutional strengthening between provinces and national organizations.
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