The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Instituição Financeira de Desenvolvimento (IFD) have taken a new step towards deepening the cooperation between the two institutions, through the European Investment Advisory Hub (EIAH or Hub). EIB Vice-President Emma Navarro and IFD Chief Executive Officer Henrique Cruz have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at promoting the support available through the Hub in Portugal.
Under the new agreement, IFD will become a national point of entry for potential clients and stakeholders keen to engage with the Hub. The Portuguese development institution will also ensure national and local promotion of the Hub’s activities, raising awareness and visibility of the Hub and the services available through it.
The Memorandum of Understanding also fosters EIB-IFD collaboration by establishing a knowledge and best practice sharing platform, so that EIAH partner institutions in Portugal can have access to relevant and updated information on how to make best use of the financial instruments available to promote public policy objectives across Europe and adapt those examples and best practices to Portuguese counterparts.
In January 2018, the EIB granted a EUR 100 million loan to IFD to provide credit lines to the national banking system with advantageous conditions, in terms of both low interest rates and long tenors, to support investments projects implemented by Portuguese companies.
COTEC Portugal, a leading Portuguese association for advancing technology diffusion and business innovation cooperation, will also benefit from the engagement of the European Investment Advisory Hub in identifying best practice across Europe to support research and innovation funding.
Thanks to this cooperation, EIB financing experts from the Innovation Finance Advisory service will explore different funding mechanisms and models that could significantly increase the amount of financing to foster the digitalisation of SMEs and to ensure that future investment benefits from new financing available under the Investment Plan for Europe.
Original source: EIB
Published on 18 October 2018
