The European Investment Bank announced that EIB Global, the arm of the European Investment Bank (EIB) dedicated to activities outside the European Union, has approved an investment of over €70 million to support the modernization of education and sustainable transport infrastructure in Serbia.
The bank stated that the investments include a loan of 40 million euros to build and equip educational facilities and improve the quality of vocational education in Serbia, in addition to another loan of 31 million euros to improve navigation activities in the waterway along the Sava and Danube rivers.
According to a statement by the European Investment Bank, today, the announcement of these investments came during a visit by a delegation of the European International Bank (EIB Global), the arm of the European Investment Bank (EIB) dedicated to activities outside the European Union, to Belgrade to hold a number of meetings with officials in the Republic of Serbia and launch financing agreements. signed between the two sides recently and discuss the future support and investment needs of the country.
Vice President of the European Investment Bank, Liliana Pavlova, responsible for the bank’s activities in Serbia, said that the new investments contribute to improving education standards and developing human capital, as well as securing transportation across waterways and thus achieving the goal of sustainable and comprehensive economic growth in Serbia.
She added that the projects, which are being implemented within the framework of Team Europe, aim to ensure the promotion of digital transition in line with the needs of the labor market, as well as to raise the efficiency of the infrastructure of inland waterways and river transport along the Rhine-Danube corridor, which is a pivotal internal route for the Balkans and Europe, with the aim of Increasing production and raising the efficiency of transportation infrastructure and sustainable energy in the health care, research and development, water and sanitation sectors.
For his part, Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Sinisa Mali, praised the role of the European Investment Bank “as a major investor and reliable partner for many years” in advancing development and reforms even in times of crisis.
He expressed the Serbian government’s gratitude for the bank’s efforts in supporting priority projects, for example modernizing educational institutions, rebuilding and developing the country’s infrastructure.
He referred to the agreement of the European Bank and the Republic of Serbia to activate a 65 million euro loan, signed in 2020, to help bring new digital skills and equipment to more than 1,500 Serbian schools.
It is noteworthy that the European International Bank EIB Global has provided about 375 million euros for research, development and education projects in the Western Balkans with the aim of digitizing education and science facilities in the region, in addition to 4.5 billion euros in the transport sector since 2005, while the bank has invested more than 7.2 billion euros in Serbia alone. To support small and medium businesses and enhance the transportation, education, healthcare and utility infrastructure sectors since 1977.
source: gate.ahram