At the CEDRE conference organised in Paris, President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Werner Hoyer announced that Lebanon would receive up to EUR 800 million of support to public investments by 2020.

“We stand ready to support Lebanon in the implementation of the government’s investment plan,” stated President Werner Hoyer. “We have provided nearly EUR 1.8 billion of financing to projects in Lebanon, of which 45% has been allocated to public investments in critical infrastructure, primarily in wastewater and transport sectors”.

Mr. Hoyer commended the Lebanese authorities for the reforms implemented so far. He highlighted that the pursuit of such reforms and the new measures presented during the conference would enable the EIB to deploy investments of up to EUR 800 million.

The EIB’s President pointed out that Lebanon would be supported via the EIB’s Economic Resilience Initiative for the Western Balkans and Southern Neighbourhood (ERI) which is intended to encourage investment in the EU Neighbourhood Countries. The EIB is able to substantially scale up financing activities in Lebanon, as well as other EU neighbours, thanks to the donor funds raised from EU Member States, including Croatia, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia and the UK.

The ERI allows the EIB to step up its engagement to tackling the refugee crisis and the longer-term challenge of migration in the region by helping to build economic resilience. Through investment in key infrastructure and the private sector, it will create opportunities for employment and conditions for growth. This will include increasing the provision of services like energy, transport, water, sanitation and education.

The EIB is a longstanding partner to Lebanon. The Bank signed recently a financing agreement of EUR 68 million for the expansion of Al Ghadir water and wastewater plant. Over the years, the Bank provided financing across many sectors; energy (EUR 112 million), transport (EUR 335 million), equity (EUR 26.5 million), water and wastewater (EUR 401 million) as well as private sector development (EUR 705 million). The Bank is working closely with the government of Lebanon to provide necessary finance for needed projects.

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Press Release

European Investment Bank (EIB)