Dear ITFA friends,
The
time has come for me to say goodbye and resign from the position as Chairman of
ITFA.
As
you probably know, I have resigned from my previous employment to take a
sabbatical period for relaxing and thinking about my private and professional
future.
It
seems only yesterday that day in September, 1999 when I was in Heidelberg and a
group of passionate forfaiters founded the IFA with a great team spirit and a
lot of ideas and initiatives; some of them are still in the market and some
others have retired since then, but thanks to them we have created a solid Association.
I
joined the IFA Board in 2004 acting as Regional Head and then Treasurer until 2007,
when I had the privilege to be elected Chairman.
Under
my Chairmanship I had the honour to work with excellent people who contributed
to our success and brought ITFA’s flag to be internationally recognized and nowadays
even collaborates closely with important international Associations and plays an
important role in the world Trade Finance market.
Nonetheless,
I was lucky to have had the possibility to organize the last 14 Annual Conferences
which gave me the chance to meet fantastic people and to visit amazing venues;
your kind appreciation for each Conference was the best satisfaction of my
professional life.
I
take this opportunity to say thank you to all those forfaiters who worked with
me during my long period at ITFA, not only for their superb contribution but primarily
for their loyalty and friendship, and to each one of you for your support and
trust.
Although
I may feel sad at this moment, I am happy to hand over the Association in very
good hands and I wish the new Chairman and the new Board every success in obtaining
the same satisfactions I have managed to fulfil.
I
will always cherish the memories I have made throughout my time at the
Association and I look forward to seeing you all in Dubai, where I will be
delighted to bid farewell to each and every one of you in person.
Briefly touching upon the upcoming conference, one
of the key topics which will inevitably be discussed is the prevailing
volatility in markets, particularly during the month of August. Fears of a
slowdown in China sent shivers down investors’ spines, thereby sparking
risk-off mode as risks of contagion into emerging markets began to materialise
faster-than-expected. Chinese fears continue to drive market and
investor sentiment
and the key monetary policy moves by the major central banks coupled with
the sharp decline
in commodity prices and recent strength of the US dollar against emerging market
currencies, will be the key themes to watch out for in the weeks ahead.
Warm regards,
Paolo Provera
Paolo Provera
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