(Adnkronos) – Italy’s foreign ministry on Thursday approved 295 soft loans managed by state investment agency Simest, totalling almost 150 million euros to support 285 Italian companies, the ministry said in a statement.
The loans greenlit by the ministry’s facilitation committee include the first three operations under the ‘USA Measure”’ launched last December to help companies with business interests in the United States, the statement said.
Two of the loans will enable as many companies to take part in international trade fairs focused on the US market, while the third loan supports a major investment in the ecological and digital transition aimed at strengthening the company’s presence in North America.
“The USA Measure is a key instrument for safeguarding the interests of our companies in the United States and for creating new trade opportunities,” said foreign minister Antonio Tajani.
“In line with the objectives of the (foreign ministry’s) Export Action Plan, this new initiative provides concrete support to Italian companies seeking to grow and become more competitive in one of the most important markets for Italian exports,” Tajani said.
Loans of 7.2 million euros were allocated to nine operations under the ‘India Measure’; 13.3 million euros of loans were made for 29 projects under the ‘Latin America Measure’ and 42.4 million loans were earmarked for 56 internationalisation initiatives under the ‘Africa Measure’, said the statement.
