October 2021 | The ICISA INSIDER
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Interview
Focusing on the future Interview with Benoît des Cressonnières During the last Annual General meeting of ICISA, the ICISA membership elected their new Vice-President of the association. Benoît des Cressonnières (Euler Hermes) was elected Vice-President of ICISA. In the upcoming months, he will work closely with the President on all ICISA activities. Benoît has served on ICISA’s management committee for the last decade and, as such, is intimately familiar with ICISA. We’ve asked Benoît about his plans and priorities for the next months. In the upcoming pages you can read his answers to these questions.
What was your reaction when nominated as VicePresident of ICISA and what made you want to accept this nomination? I was very happy when I was appointed Vice-President of ICISA, to become a member of a “new” team together with Kay Scholz (President) and Richard Wulff, our new Executive Director. This team has a clear target to move ICISA forward in setting up a new guidance, transforming the Association to better serve its members, being at the heart of their concerns as well as a trustful partner to support and promote the Trade Credit Insurance and Surety to the benefit of all members worldwide. This will be a long and challenging journey especially in a permanently changing and volatile environment. But Trade Credit Insurance and Surety are extremely efficient tools to secure global trade and projects in the global world. I am passionate about these specialized insurance products and would like to contribute in bringing my almost 25 years’ prctical experience and helping ICISA to focus on the core topics of the industry.
Euler Hermes is one of the biggest members of ICISA. How do you think both Euler Hermes and ICISA will benefit from this?
insurance products, and to the best interests of its members lobbying the most relevant stakeholders for our industry that are the Regulators, rating agencies, Finance and Trade Ministries and, more specifically in Europe, the European Commission as well as EIOPA whenever needed. As a member of the Allianz Group, Euler Hermes has developed a tremendous network across the Globe which could benefit ICISA to get relevant introductions when required.
The competitive landscape has changed drastically in the last decades. What do you see as ICISA’s role in this landscape? It is true that the competitive landscape has changed and moved from local to global players. However, there are still a lot of specialized and valuable local players which also deserve the attention and support from ICISA. The Association should become an incubator of ideas, a platform where experts can meet, find relevant information to develop the business fitting the customers’ needs. In a world where data became the key resource, ICISA needs to be a reliable data collector and provider as well as a “door opener” when it comes to more specific queries from members.
What should be, in your opinion, ICISA’s priorities? Being the largest member does not give you any right to be arrogant but only the duty to bring added-value to the Association through your broad experience and footprint. Euler Hermes has to be a model for the industry, always acting fairly and with a lot of respect for all members. Fair competition is one of the basic rules to grow a business. And ICISA has a key role in promoting our specific |
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There are 2 sets of priorities, one focused on the transformation of ICISA itself, its processes, its staff to become a “State of the Art”, modern Association of experts able to deliver the services the members need, a real value for the fees they spend.
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