EU Finance Ministers celebrated on 14 of September, 10 years of EIB-FEMIP (European Investment Bank and the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership) together with their Mediterranean counterparts in a joint meeting in Cyprus. At the meeting, EU Finance Ministers confirmed that EU’s neighbours should be the priority for the Bank in its operations outside Europe.

EIB-FEMIP, the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership, is the financial arm of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in the Mediterranean partner countries: Algeria, Egypt, Gaza/West Bank, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and soon Libya. EU Finance Ministers celebrated 10 years of this facility together with their Mediterranean counterparts in a joint FEMIP-ECOFIN meeting in Cyprus. Ministers called upon EIB-FEMIP to reinforce its leadership role in financing sustainable long-term investment programmes and promote partnerships that further enhance the value-added of its operations. In 2011, EIB and the Union for the Mediterranean Secretariat signed an agreement which allowed FEMIP to channel funds.

The Cyprus Minister of Finance Mr. Vassos Shiarly stressed that the EIB-FEMIP is now called upon to review new opportunities for providing investment knowledge and technical advice to EU Mediterranean partners. Also at the meeting, Ministers agreed that EIB-FEMIP should focus on socially-inclusive growth, job creation (particularly for the youth), private sector development including SME and microfinance lending as well as economic and social infrastructure development.

The EIB-FEMIP has supported through project financing of over €13 billion its Mediterranean partners’ economic and social development since 2002. EIB-FEMIP supported 2,300 SMEs, creating 30,000 jobs, mobilised roughly €35 billion of additional capital and granted more than €102 million for technical assistance operations to build knowledge and capacity. This was achieved by catalysing budgetary funds and resources from international financing institutions, bilateral agencies and the private sector in order to advance the integration of the region.