European Investment Bank (EIB) was always ready to support Lebanon in the implementation of the government’s investment plan, said its president, while pledging up to €800 million ($985 million) in public investments by 2020.

Werner Hoyer was speaking at the CEDRE conference organised in Paris recently.

"We have provided nearly €1.8 billion of financing to projects in Lebanon, of which 45 per cent has been allocated to public investments in critical infrastructure, primarily in wastewater and transport sectors," he stated.

Hoyer commended the Lebanese authorities for the reforms implemented so far. He highlighted that the pursuit of such reforms and the new measures presented during the conference would enable the EIB to deploy investments of up to €800 million.

Hoyer said Lebanon would be supported via the EIB’s Economic Resilience Initiative for the Western Balkans and Southern Neighbourhood (ERI) which is intended to encourage investment in the EU Neighbourhood Countries.

The EIB, he stated, was a longstanding partner to Lebanon. The Bank signed recently a financing agreement of  €68 million for the expansion of Al Ghadir water and wastewater plant.

Over the years, the Bank provided financing across many sectors; energy ( €112 million), transport (€335 million), equity (€26.5 million), water and wastewater (€401 million) as well as private sector development (€705 million).

EIB is working closely with the government of Lebanon to provide necessary finance for needed projects.

It EIB is able to substantially scale up financing activities in Lebanon, as well as other EU neighbours, thanks to the donor funds raised from EU Member States, including Croatia, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia and the UK, it added.-TradeArabia News Service