Investing in SMEs and infrastructure may be the norm for Europe’s Investment Plan, but in Finland, it is being used to experiment with a social bond.
Investing in SMEs and infrastructure may be the norm for Europe’s Investment Plan, but in Finland, it is being used to experiment with a social bond. According the European Commission’s Vice President for jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness Jyrki Katainen, the bond is co-financed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the private sector and the government of Finland. It is aimed at getting 2,500 migrants who arrived in Finland, into the labour force and help them become productive contributors to the economy.
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Maithreyi Seetharaman: Vice President, tell me what’s the real stuff we can now show to figure out where EFSI is at this point now?
Jyrki Katainen: Well actually one good example is this one. This is social impact bond project. It’s co financed by EFSI, private sector and government of Finland and it’s aim is to provide jobs for 2500 migrants in Finland. I wanted to raise this issue because this is slightly different than normal EFSI investment which are in SME financing, or industrial projects or infrastructure, but this is social impact bond and it shows very well how flexible EFSI is.
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