March 13 (SeeNews) - The European Bank Coordination “Vienna” Initiative, a framework for safeguarding the financial stability of emerging Europe, has adopted a new growth model for the region that drives innovation and boosts productivity, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Tuesday.
The Vienna Initiative, a public-private platform launched during the 2008-09 global financial crisis, brings together international financial institutions, European institutions, regulatory authorities from host and home countries alike, as well as major banking groups active in central, eastern and south-eastern Europe (CESEE).
"At a Full Forum meeting of the Vienna Initiative in London, participants also gave their backing for plans to bolster capital markets in the region, another key condition for delivering more sustainable, robust growth," the EBRD said in a statement.
The new approach aims to give a fresh impetus to growth in the region and to promote convergence with higher-income EU countries, the EBRD added.
The Vienna Initiative's new focus on innovation aims to improve the access to finance for innovation projects of small companies in the region, while the further development of the capital markets is seen as essential to finance investments from both domestic and foreign sources.
In addition, further ways to speed up the resolution of bad loans were identified. The Vienna Initiative also welcomed a continuing drop in non-performing loans (NPLs) in CESEE and endorsed the recently published European Banking Authority NPL templates, aimed at improving and standardising information on NPLs available to potential investors.