EIB boosts German research funds
The German Federal State of Saarland is to receive a 100 million euro loan from the EIB (European Investment Bank) towards financing research and higher education facilities. The agreement was finalised by Saarland's Finance Minister, Peter Jacoby and EIB Vice-President Wolfgang Roth on 11 December. The different projects targeted form part of a multi-annual capital investment programme aimed at strengthening biomedical and biotechnological research at the State's university hospital as well as expanding research capacity in other high technology areas. By increasing Saarland's R&D potential, fresh impetus will also be given to the federal state's economic development. Areas to be targeted by the loan include advanced energy-saving technology, the extension of scientific and technical libraries and data communications infrastructure. The EIB's Innovation 2000 Initiative (i2i) is designed to support the decisions, made at the Lisbon European Council, to promote research and innovation. Over the next three years, the EIB intends to contribute between 12 to 15 billion euro to this cause.