EIB, Japan Bank for International Cooperation eye offshore wind, subsea interconnector investments

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) have entered into an agreement to further expand cooperation on a range of globally relevant investments, including projects contributing to carbon neutrality in the European Union, such as subsea interconnectors, offshore wind plans, battery storage facilities, and hydrogen technology development.

The expanded cooperation between the EIB and JBIC will also include identifying co-financing opportunities for infrastructure connectivity (transport, energy and digitalisation) in the EU, as well as in Asia, Africa, and the EU’s neighbouring countries.

The agreement was formalised by expanding the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between JBIC and the EIB in 2018. The MoU follows up on the EU-Asia Connectivity strategy signed in 2018 and supports the recently approved EU-Japan Sustainable Connectivity partnership.

The MoU enables the two banks to work on co-financing and co-investment opportunities in projects conducted in developing countries. Operations will be aligned with the “G20 Principles for Quality Infrastructure Investment”, endorsed at the G20 Osaka Summit in June 2019.

“Since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in October 2018, JBIC and the EIB have held successive discussions at various levels to specify the scope of collaboration and enhance cooperation. We believe that this expanded MoU will further strengthen cooperation between the two policy-based public financial institutions in areas such as climate and environmental change measures in which Japan and the European Union will play a leading role”, said Nobumitsu Hayashi, Deputy Governor of JBIC.

The new agreement also follows the announcement of the European Union and Japan from May of this year, when the governments informed of their mutual intention to form a Green Alliance to accelerate the transition of both economies towards becoming climate-neutral, circular and resource-efficient in the coming decades.