After excellent and successful cooperation over the years, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Caixa Geral de Depósitos, S.A (CGD), headquartered in Lisbon, are joining forces again to further support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their investments in Portugal. The EIB is making a EUR 150 million line of credit available, and CGD will act as an intermediary between the EIB and the final customers, expected to be located mostly in convergence areas, thus also contributing to regional development and economic and social cohesion. Some of the projects may contribute to promoting the Lisbon Agenda objectives, energy savings or renewable energies, or the protection of the environment.
At the signature ceremony, the EIB was represented by Dr. Carlos Costa, Vice-President, whereas the CGD was represented by Engº Fernando Manuel Barbosa Faria de Oliveira, Chairman, and Dr. Pedro Manuel de Oliveira Cardoso, Member of the Board.
As the largest bank in Portugal, CGD, has broad experience with the Portuguese SME sector and a strong and diversified client base of SMEs. The EIB’s contribution results from positive effects for the SMEs in terms of both the availability of longer-term maturities and improved final interest rates to the benefiting SMEs.
Lines of credit combine the advantages of the EIB's first-rate access to world capital markets, where it raises most of the funds for its lending activity, with the local network and know-how of domestic partner banks. EIB Vice-President, Dr. Carlos Costa, commented at the signature ceremony: “ SMEs are by nature a local business: SMEs need direct access to financial partners and a close relationship with them, like CGD, which benefits from high-quality local and sector information and is able to monitor changing demands promptly and carry out appraisals of proposed projects”.
There are some 23 million SMEs in the European Union (EU), accounting for over 99% of all enterprises and contributing up to 80% of employment in some industrial sectors, such as textiles, construction or furniture. The EIB Group’s SME activity benefited more than 162 000 SMEs in 2007 (of which 376 in Portugal), with a specific focus on innovative SMEs with high growth potential, small renewable energy schemes promoted by SMEs, and micro-enterprises. EIB support was provided through lines of credit totalling some EUR 5 billion (of which EUR 250 million in Portugal), granted to its intermediaries throughout the European Union.
Note for the editor:
The European Investment Bank Group, the banking group promoting European objectives and financing European projects, provides capital investment aimed at modernising the economies of the Member States and the countries close to the Union.
In 2007, the European Investment Bank lent a total of EUR 47.8 billion for projects promoting the European Union’s policy objectives. Finance for the then EU-27 Member States represented 87% of its activities and amounted to EUR 41.4 billion. To fund its activities, the EIB raised an aggregate amount of EUR 55 billion on the international capital markets through 236 bond issues in 23 currencies. Owned by the Member States, the EIB (with its AAA rating) is the world’s largest supranational issuer.