Belrim president and group risk and insurance manager at engineering firm CMI Gäetan Lefèvre tells us about the key risks likely to affect the engineering industry
What brings you back to the Amrae conference?
It’s the perfect place to exchange ideas with other risk managers, particularly on important topics which are useful for me as chairman of the Belgian Risk Management Association (Belrim). And it’s important to share our views with Amrae.
What are the major risks affecting your business at the moment?
Political risk is very high on the agenda for us because we have operations in the Middle East and North Africa. Also the availability of cash. Traditional markets such as Europe are always in stagnation and consequently we need to go further to find new opportunities in other markets, which you will certainly find in the emerging countries. For example, Africa is a new target destination for companies like mine, but when you go outside traditional markets, you face new risks with regards to new clients, whether they are political or country risks.
What are the main benefits to be gained from attending a conference such as Amrae?
As chairman of Belrim, I like to participate in French speaking meetings. There are requests to support the development of risk management from certain countries where French is one of the common languages such as in North or Central Africa. A good example is civil law or Napoleonic law, which are similar to common law in the UK or US and requires very different management processes. The Napoleonic in insurance contracts workshop would be particularly useful to attend.
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