Smart cities and islands: EIB and Government of Croatia work towards developing an investment platform

To unlock the potential for faster and sustainable development of Croatian municipalities and islands, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Croatian Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds have signed an Advisory Services agreement to support the design of an investment platform for smart cities and islands.

EIB Vice-President Vazil Hudák, Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Gabrijela Zalac and President of the Management Board of the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) Tamara Perko announced the joint development of the investment platform on October 25th in Dubrovnik.

The advisory support for the establishment of the investment platform will be funded by the Advisory Hub, a joint initiative of the EIB and the European Commission, part of the Investment Plan for Europe.

“The Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, in co-operation with the European Investment Bank, will provide support for the development of smart islands and smart cities by stimulating private and public investments. The contracted advisory support starts in November 2018, while the inventory of projects to be identified through the investment platform for smart cities will be a basis for the programming and implementation of the ITI mechanism for cities in the post-2020 period” said Minister Zalac.

The signature will allow the partners to focus on:

• awareness-raising in relation to financing opportunities available through an investment platform approach;
• sector analysis and analysis of investment needs and financing gaps, reviewing urban and territorial development strategies;
• project identification and analysis and assessment of the potential for an investment platform and the design of an investment platform.

“For the EIB, smart city and regional investment is a way to respond efficiently to our social and territorial cohesion mandate by supporting the upgrading of local economies in a quickly evolving digital world,” Vazil Hudák said at the press briefing.

Original source: EIB
Published on 25 October 2018