President Hoyer’s keynote address at the conference hosted on 29th October by the EU, UNHCR and the IOM in Brussels.
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Ladies and gentlemen,
All of us assembled here this morning are united in our efforts to mitigate the pressures caused by the Venezuelan migration crisis.
…We know that the European Union has a very important role to play and I would like to praise HRVP Federica Mogherini for her leadership. I assure you today that the EU bank will do its part to support External Action Services and the European Commission in delivering a joined-up European response.
I am acutely aware of the problems faced by Colombia and other countries in the region. Three months ago and I visited Colombia first-hand and met with President Duque who described the immense pressure on local public services and how Colombia is responding to it at different levels. I can only praise the welcoming efforts made by the Colombian Government, as well as the countries who have shown great generosity and solidarity in receiving migrants.
We are in advanced negotiations with the Colombian authorities to strengthen social infrastructure most affected by the crisis, blending our financing with grants from the European Commission’s Latin America Investment Facility.
It is our role as the EU bank to strengthen economic resilience. We do this by investing in sustainable and inclusive growth in countries of origin, host and transit communities, in an effort to make countries more capable of withstanding shocks.
…We are not equipped to deal with immediate humanitarian needs, but we have good partners to do this, can make a difference by supporting sustainable employment opportunities, enhancing financial inclusion and investing in infrastructure and climate action. Concretely, this translates into the financing of investment in social and economic infrastructures, ensuring sustainable water and wastewater treatment, energy sources, quality education for all, healthcare services, and the creation of quality and sustainable jobs.
We are doing this with the Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI) for projects in the Neighbourhood and Western Balkans. Launched in the context of the migration crisis in Europe in 2016, we are providing an additional EUR 6 billion of financing up to 2020 to support investment of EUR 37 billion in these regions.
Leveraging on the knowledge we have acquired with the Resilience Initiative, EIB has been leading the Multilateral Development Banks platform on Economic Migration and Forced Displacement since 2018. And we have been collaborating through the platform with the Inter-American Development Bank on best practices related to migration management from rural to urban areas.
We are in close contact with our colleagues from the IMF, World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank who are conducting a needs assessment on Venezuela. Should the situation improve, we will be ready to act, as it is an eligible country of operation for our Bank.
Ladies and gentlemen, we stand ready to support Latin America in this time of need.
Thank you very much!