OREANDA-NEWS. The European Investment Bank (EIB) renews its support for climate action and knowledge economy in Turkey with a EUR 320 million total finance package in the form of two separate lending facilities signed with the Under-secretariat of the Turkish Treasury.

"With these two operations we reaffirm our commitment to Turkey on two of the EIB activity pillars: on the one hand the support to the  investments combatting climate change, and I would like to stress the fact that this is the third loan to Turkey for such a purpose in the last five years. On the other hand the financing to the research and development programmes, both academic and industrial, which is essential for the modernisation process of the Turkish economy", the EIB Vice-President Pim van Ballekom said.

A EUR 120 million loan will be available for the country’s forest rehabilitation, afforestation and erosion control activities to take place in the period 2016-2017. The loan is a follow-up to two previous EIB operations of this kind in Turkey: a EUR 150 million facility signed in July 2011 and an additional EUR 150 million facility signed in December 2013 implemented by the Ministry of Forestry and Water Works. By supporting afforestation, rehabilitation and erosion control activities, the present operation contributes to climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as a better natural resource management in Turkey, underpinning economic growth and sustainability. It is expected to deliver multiple environmental benefits including improvements to forest health, protection of soil and water resources, increased supply of timber and biomass for energy. The project will also generate significant, positive spill-over effects and welfare improvements to the local rural economies in terms of employment and sustainable raw material supply to first stage wood processing industries, characterized by rural SMEs.

A EUR 200 million loan in favour of the Scientific and Technological Research Council - TÜBITAK is a further contribution to the country’s research and innovation capacity. The facility is financing two of the largest national R&D support programmes implemented by TÜBITAK:

  • the Academic Research Funding Programme, providing project-based grants for fundamental research carried out by universities and by public as well as private research centres, and
  • the Industrial R&D and Innovation Programme, facilitating collaboration between industry and universities in order to boost the global competitiveness of Turkish private companies and further support the development of an entrepreneurship culture.

The Turkish business community and society at large will also benefit from the facility because it will use the outputs of the R&D programmes to improve innovation and increase productivity and economic growth. This is the fifth EIB operation with TÜBITAK in support of the integration of Turkey into the European Research Area since 2008, providing over EUR 1 billion for smart growth in Turkey.