The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Cassa depositi e prestiti (CDP) have signed a new EUR 500 million agreement for supporting investment in Italy.

Under the agreement, the EIB is providing CDP with a credit line of up to EUR 500 million that will be used – under the CDP’s “Plafond PMI” instrument – to finance, through the intermediary of Italian banks, projects promoted by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and enterprise networks.

“This agreement confirms the importance of the EIB and CDP’s cooperation to pump fresh resources into the Italian economy every year – in all productive sectors from major projects to small businesses – so helping to boost the investment that is crucial to supporting the recovery”, said EIB Vice-President Dario Scannapieco.

“Today’s agreement with the EIB reinforces the synergies between our institutions, which have already been seen in the infrastructure sector and are now being specifically directed for the first time towards Italy’s smaller business segment. For CDP, this represents the positive development of its economic support programmes launched over the last few years to facilitate SMEs’ access to credit”, added CDP’s CEO Matteo Del Fante.

Part of the funds will go to enterprise networks, free associations of companies aimed at boosting their members’ competitiveness and capacity for innovation – a concept introduced into Italian law in 2009 (enterprise network contract, law 33/2009).

This initiative represents further practical application of the EIB and CDP’s joint action on the basis of a framework agreement designed to strengthen and develop cooperation in Italy in the financing of government services, state-owned companies, local bodies, business groupings and SMEs, which also provides for exchanges of officials between the two institutions.