Katainen: ‘My main message is to private investors – there are new opportunities. I firmly believe Croatia will profit from Invest EU’

European Commission Vice President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness Jyrki Katainen has presented to the Croatian parliament a EC investment plan which will attract over 300 billion euros over the next three years…

The aim of the investment plan, which the EC expects will attract hundreds of billions of euros in private investment, is to stimulate growth, with a focus on developing communication and energy infrastructure and encouraging SMEs.

“My main message is to private investors – there are new opportunities. I firmly believe Croatia will profit from Invest EU,” said Katainen in Zagreb on Monday.

Katainen said that the European Commission’s plan, which should be operational by the summer, is to attract private investment in strategic sectors, with a preference for more risky projects in less developed southern Member States. The Commission wants to strengthen the single market of the EU through the harmonization of digital and energy markets and to encourage the financing of SMEs in the capital market, he said.

Croatia has forwarded a list of 77 projects to the Commission, worth over 21 billion euros. So far the EC has received around 2,000 projects available for investment from Member States worth around 1,300 billion euros. Starting capital of 21 billion euros, of which 16 billion will guaranteed by the EU for the Invest EU plan, with 5 billion guaranteed by the European Investment Bank. An independent body will select the successful projects.

“Europe is full of money, there is no lack of liquidity. The problem is that it is not invested in the real economy,” Katainen said, adding that the Commission estimates that 1.3 million new jobs will be created by the investment plan. (photo / vlada)