EIB boosts Mediterranean SMEs
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced that it is to contribute €10 million to EUROMED, a newly launched investment fund for Mediterranean small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Based in Milan, Italy, EUROMED is a €60 million private equity fund which aims to increase the volume of direct foreign investment in SMEs in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and other non-EU Mediterranean countries. The fund uses a network of north Africa-based managers to identify local enterprises which European-based companies can develop into joint ventures. Sponsors of the fund include the Lombardy Region in Italy, through its financial arm Finlombarda SpA, and the Milan Chamber of Commerce. The EIB makes its contribution through its Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership (FEMIP), which launched in 2002 to provide loans, investment capital and technical assistance grants to help Mediterranean partner countries respond to the challenges of economic and social modernisation and enhanced regional integration. FEMIP encourages the development of the private sector by acquiring equity and quasi-equity stakes in private companies. Philippe de Fontaine Vive is vice-President of EIB and head of FEMIP. He said that the facility would provide more than just financial support to EUROMED. 'We are ready to share with EUROMED Fund the knowledge we have developed over more than ten years of private equity activities in the region. We look forward to this fund becoming a new, additional source of finance for local enterprises, promoting regional trade and industrial ventures, fostering north-south and south-south cooperation. Our investment signals FEMIP's support for the development of the local private equity industry and, more broadly, to the local private sector.'