European Investment Bank to Increase Lending to Turkey
The European Investment Bank will soon begin to focus on the transport sector, climate action and energy in Turkey, according to Deputy President Matthias Kollatz-Ahnen, who spoke at a news conference in Ankara on March 14, 2011.
The European Investment Bank, or EIB, aims to increase lending to Turkey to roughly 2 billion euros per year in the years to come, according to participants at a press conference held Monday in Ankara.
“For 2011 we are aiming for additional substantial, swift and strong support to Turkey, which remains the largest recipient country of EIB financing outside the European Union,” EIB Deputy President Matthias Kollatz-Ahnen told the press conference, adding that the bank’s lending to Turkey in 2010 remained an important stimulus to smart growth. “We consider efficient infrastructure and vivid entrepreneurship as key factors in the country’s development and accession process towards the EU.”
Kollatz-Ahnen also said the bank, the EU’s long-term lending institution, was ending its anti-crisis program in Turkey and EU member countries.
The EIB will “maximize its impact” in sectors such as infrastructure and entrepreneurship, according to the deputy president.
“Special emphasis will [also] be [placed] on the transport sector, climate action and the environment, energy – including renewable energy production – as well as small- and medium-sized companies,” he said.
In 2008 and 2009, EIB lending to Turkey reached a high of 2.6 billion euros as part of an effort to limit the effects of the global crisis. An additional, annual anti-crisis amount of 600 million euros was also provided.
Largely through intermediary Turkish banks, the money mainly went to small- and medium-sized companies that were most impacted by problems in normal lending.
The EIB has been active in Turkey for more than 45 years. It says its task is “to contribute toward the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the EU member states by making long-term financing available for sound investments.”
In 2010, total EIB lending equaled 72 billion euros.
March 15, 2011
SOURCE: Hürriyet Daily News
