Brussels, 18/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - This Monday 18 April, Athens was visited by the Vice-President of the European Commission, Jyrki Katainen, who came to announce that the EIB had approved the first Greek project benefit from the investment plan for Europe.
The industrial company which will receive this financing will use it to invest in research and development and create new production lines. Katainen, who is responsible for employment, growth, investment and competitiveness, said: “I am very pleased that the EIB has improved the first Investment Plan project, [which] puts a strong emphasis on research and innovation -R&D being one of the areas where we see that the Investment Plan makes a real difference”..
To date, the EIB has approved 57 projects to benefit from a public guarantee under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), for a total amount of €7.8 billion (see EUROPE 11510).
During his visit, Katainen met the Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, to discuss the Juncker investment plan, the main objective of which is to stimulate investments that would struggle to find potential investors. He stressed that “Greece can benefit enormously from the European Fund for Strategic Investments”.
The European Commission is soon to launch the new 'European investment projects portal'. This portal will allow public and private promoters to put their projects in front of potential investors. (Original version in French by Maëlle Didion)