Bulk of contributions to infrastructures and private sector
(ANSAmed) – BRUSSELS, APRIL 04 – The EU’s Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF) last year approved 91.3 million euros grant contributions in the Southern Neighbourhood. According to the Enpi website (www.enpi-info.eu), last year NIF financed 15 projects in Southern and Eastern partner countries, for 142.3 million. Last year had been ”a test year European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule said – for our cooperation with the Neighbourhood region, full of historical moments and challenges”. ”The Strategic Board – Fule added – agreed that NIF support to the private sector and job creation shall remain a priority for the coming years in order to quickly address the economic and social situation that was at the root of the revolutions”.
Nine projects in the Southern region were approved in 2011 (64% of funds), compared to six projects in the Eastern region.
Seven countries, including Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia, directly benefited from a NIF grant last year, while substantial support was provided to regional projects in the South representing a total NIF contribution of 30 million euros. The bulk of support in 2011 was for infrastructure (79%) and the rest went to operations in support of private sector development. (ANSAmed)
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