DUSHANBE, April 11, 2013, Asia-Plus  -- On Wednesday April 10, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon met in Brussels with Mr. Wilhelm Molterer, Vice-President and member of the Management Committee of the European Investment Bank (EIB).

According to the Tajik president’s official website, Mr. Molterer noted that Tajikistan was the first country in the Central Asian region to establish cooperation with EIB.

According to him the European Investment Bank plans to expand its activities in Tajikistan.

To-date, the EIB has reportedly provided 21 million U.S. dollars for implementation of the Hydro Power Plants rehabilitation Project in Tajikistan.

In the future, the EIB also plans to invest in other sectors of Tajikistan’s economy such as transportation and agriculture, EIB vice-president stressed.  He added that the Bank would support enhancement of Tajikistan’s social sector as well.

The meeting resulted in signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on expansion of cooperation between Tajikistan and the European Investment Bank, the source said.       

Founded in Brussels in 1958, the European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union''s nonprofit long-term lending institution.  In 1968, it relocated to Luxembourg, its current headquarters.

The EIB is a publicly owned international financial institution and its shareholders are the member states of the European Union. The EIB Group was formed in 2000, comprising the EIB and the European Investment Fund (EIF), the EU''s venture capital arm that provides finances and guarantees for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The EIB is the EIF''s majority shareholder, with 62% of the shares.

Although about 90 percent of projects financed by the EIB are based in EU member countries, the bank does fund projects in about 150 other countries: non-EU south-eastern European countries, Mediterranean partner countries, ACP countries, Asian and Latin American countries, Russia and other eastern neighbors of the EU.  According to the EIB, it works in these countries to implement the financial pillar of the union''s external cooperation and development policies by encouraging private sector development, infrastructure development, security of energy supply and environmental sustainability.