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Jessica Fund Has Backed 190 Urban Renewal Projects
23 October 2017
190 urban renewal projects were backed by the Jessica Fund in the last five years in Portugal, with a total investment of 690 million euros, the group announced today.
The president of the Jessica Fund’s Investment Committee, Roberto Grilo, revealed to the Lusa news agency that the initiative “financed 190 national projects”, “leveraging a total of about 690 million euros.”
The investment projects were developed in “more than 70 cities and towns,” leading to the creation of “three thousand permanent jobs”, Grilo, who is also the president of the Alentejo Commission of Coordination and Regional Development (CCDR), stressed.
The official, speaking to Lusa on the side-lines of the Annual Jessica Fund Event held in Évora, said that the initiative’s “first contract” was signed in April 2012 in the city of Alentejo with the Eugénio de Almeida Foundation.
Jessica, developed by the European Commission together with the European Investment Bank (EIB), aims to support member states in financing urban renewal projects.
Jessica: complementary funding for urban renewal
Roberto Grilo views the impact to Portugal of the Jessica Fund to be positive, noting that “in addition to renewal, the creation of 3,000 permanent jobs induces additional economic activity.”
“The policies of urban regeneration and revitalisation are obviously a positive factor, but so are the associated direct investments in job creation,” he said.
According to the president of the Investment Committee, the Jessica Fund supported projects developed by public and private entities and investments with groups such as private social solidarity institutions and tourism units.
In Alentejo, the official said, 27 projects were supported, and two are “in the process of being contracted”, involving a total investment of “103.2 million euros, with 29.8 million euros of contracted financing.”
“Investments were undertaken in 11 municipalities of the Alentejo,” in which Évora “counts for a large portion,” he said, pointing out that the projects in the region generated 180 jobs.
Mr Grilo stressed that the Jessica Fund will remain available until 2030, and that, although there are other mechanisms supporting urban renewal, “our fund is complementary and manages to respond to situations to which others cannot.”
The fund manages €132.5 million of national and community resources leveraged by Urban Development Funds for a total amount of available funding of more than €300 million.
Original Story: Lusa / Diário Imobiliário
Translation: Richard Turner