On December 16, 2013, the European Investment Bank (EIB), represented by Vice President Wilhelm Molterer, signed the Joint Vienna Institute (JVI) agreement, formally becoming a Contributing Member of the JVI, a regional capacity-building and training center financed primarily by Austria and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). As a Contributing Member, the EIB plans to offer some training courses at the JVI and contribute to joint courses. During the signing ceremony Mr. Molterer stressed the relevance of engaging in facilitating more training for institutions from accession and partner countries to contribute to the dissemination of EU standards and EIB best practices.

Norbert Funke, Director of the JVI, notes that the EIB’s focus on providing investment financing and its expertise in areas such as infrastructure, small and medium enterprises finance, and addressing imbalances between regions will help to further strengthen the JVI capacity development agenda.

The JVI is an independent international organization and is the oldest of a global network of regional training centers run by or in cooperation with the IMF. It provides training mostly to participants from former transition countries across Europe and Central Asia. A substantial part of the training is delivered jointly with one or more of its stakeholder organizations, which comprise the Austrian Authorities (the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the IMF, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as the European Commission (EC) which has observer status.

The EIB is the European Union’s bank. With a total lending volume of some euro 69 bn this year, the EIB is the largest multilateral borrower and lender by volume. The Bank provides finance and expertise for sustainable investment projects. The EIB combines lending, blending and advising to promote projects which support economic growth and job creation. The EIB also implements the financial aspects of the EU’s external and development policies.