EIB (European Investment Bank) Vice President, Gelsomina Vigliotti, has signed a finance agreement with the Director General of the Treasury, Alessandro Rivera, to create a Fund of Funds for an initial amount of EUR 772 million under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).

The Fund – and related activities - will support operations under the remit of the Tourism and Interior Ministries. The EIB will channel these funds to firms via financial intermediaries that will be selected following calls for expression of public interest.

The Fund of Funds will finance the promotion of sustainable investment programmes, in line with the goals and strategic priorities of tourism and urban regeneration. The EIB’s contributions will be devoted to investments promoting the green transition and digital transformation.

More specifically, the Fund will allocate EUR 500 million for tourism in support of the strategic priorities shared with the Ministry of Tourism, to finance projects designed to enhance tourist structures and tourism services by upgrading and improving standards, with the dual objective of increasing the competitiveness of businesses and promoting tourism based on environmental sustainability, innovation, and digitisation of services.

A total amount of EUR 272 million will be allocated to support the strategic priorities of the Ministry of Interior that include urban regeneration projects to revitalise vulnerable localities, with a specific focus on creating new customised services and improving accessibility and infrastructure.

This financial support to projects will start from the second quarter of 2022, and the Fund of Funds will be implemented in line with the milestones and schedule envisaged under the NRRP.

The finance agreement prepared for the Ministry of Economy and Finance was finalised by the VI Directorate – Financial Interventions in the Economy – of the Department of the Treasury, the office in charge of managing the relationship with the EU Bank.