The European Investment Bank (EIB) renews its support for smart growth in Turkey with a EUR 475 million total finance package for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies (mid-caps), as well as climate action. The finance package is in the form of four separate lending facilities, with four major public and promotional banks, which have strong and complementary market positions in the country, ie Halkbank, Türkiye Sinai Kalkınma Bankası (TSKB) and Ziraatbank for entrepreneurial activity and ILBANK for environmental and climate action.
The contracts were signed today in a public ceremony in Ankara by: EIB’s Vice-President, Mr. Pim van Ballekom, the Deputy Undersecretary of Treasury, Mr. Cavit Dağdaş, Ziraatbank’s Board Member and General Manager, Mr. Hüseyin Aydın, ILBANK’s General Manager, Mr. Ahmet Candan, Halkbank’s Board Member and General Manager, Mr. Süleyman Aslan, and TSKB’s Board Member and CEO, Mr. Fevzi Onat,
On this occasion, EIB Vice-President Pim van Ballekom commented: “As newly appointed EIB Vice-President responsible for Turkey, I am particularly happy to announce that our support to Turkey’s smart growth remains steady and strong. In 2011 we achieved a total of EUR 2 billion for 19 projects in Turkey in key sectors for the country’s development, and prosperity. Supporting smart growth in Turkey is the quintessence of our financing policy in Turkey. Today we sign a further package of EUR 475 million in loans for entrepreneurship and climate change in the country in cooperation with four major Turkish partner banks. Our financial means and expertise as the largest multilateral financing institution blend in with the expertise of our local banking partners for the benefit of the flourishing entrepreneurial activity in Turkey. The operation with ILBANK in favour of water and solid waste infrastructure opens up the co-operation between our two institutions for the benefit of Turkish local authorities and their population. As the European Union’s bank, we are keen to reconfirm our large, swift and strong support to Turkey, which remains the largest recipient country of EIB financing outside the EU. In 2012 we will focus further on the three pillars of the EIB activity in Turkey: public infrastructure, SMEs and corporate lending, the latter with a focus on support in favour of foreign direct investments, and the energy sector. Support in favour of the Knowledge Economy and tackling Climate Change will remain among the top priorities of EIB in 2012.”
