The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing EUR 200 million to co-finance investment schemes promoted by the Region of Marche in Italy under the Regional Development Programme 2007-2013. This programme includes financing from the Structural Funds as well as central and regional resources. With this loan the EIB is joining forces with the Commission and the Italian authorities to bolster the efforts of the Marche Region to maintain its competitiveness. The loan will underpin schemes in priority areas such as R&D and ICT capacity, education and training, multi-modal transport, energy efficiency and renewables, as well as enhancement of the environment and quality of life.
The loan agreement was signed today in Brussels by Mr Dario Scannapieco, EIB Vice-President, and Mr Gian Mario Spacca, President of the Marche Region.
On the occasion of the signature Mr Scannapieco commented: “I am particularly happy to sign this loan as it is proof that the effort we began in Marche in 2003 has been a success; we signed at that time the first ever EIB operation of this kind at European level, and we hoped to see it become a model for other former Objective 2 regions in Italy and the rest of Europe. Indeed the efforts have been successful and the model has since been used in other areas of Italy and Europe as it enhances the synergies between EIB and the Structural Fund financing. This type of action allows us to work together with the local authorities, the national administrations and the European Commission to achieve optimum results”.
The EIB’s action under the Regional Development Programme 2007-2013 of the Region of Marche will total EUR 300 million, as it will include EUR 100 million in support for the private sector, namely small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in tourism and cultural heritage. The latter will be intermediated by a commercial bank active in the Region and will be signed shortly.
The Region of Marche, with its 1.52 million inhabitants, has traditionally been one of the most dynamic areas of Italy, with 25% of its GDP export-oriented. This combined action aims to further assist the Region by supporting tourism as a focal growth-generating sector, as well as by reinforcing the innovation capacity of small businesses, fostering technical links between universities and the productive base, and increasing accessibility (further integrating industrial clusters via better information highways and enhanced logistics through intermodal transport). Since 2002, the EIB has provided in the Region of Marche a total of EUR 638 million for various sectors, namely infrastructure, energy and SMEs.
Note for the editor:
The European Investment Bank Group, the banking group promoting European objectives, finances capital investment aimed at modernising the economies of the Member States and the countries neighbouring the Union. In 2006, the European Investment Bank lent a total of EUR 45.8 bn for projects promoting the European Union’s policy objectives. Finance for the then EU-25 Member States represented 87% of its activities and amounted to EUR 39.8 bn. To fund its activities, the EIB raised an aggregate amount of EUR 48 bn on the international capital markets through 303 bond issues in 24 currencies. Owned by the Member States, the EIB (AAA issuer) is the largest supranational issuer.This was the first full year in which the new strategy decided by the EIB’s Governors in June 2005 was implemented. This qualitative strategy based on investment and financial innovation consists of:
- strengthening the leverage of the EIB’s operations;
- concentrating its financing within the Union on six European priorities;
- fostering economic convergence between the Union and its partner countries.