After being held in Tarragona and Manresa during 2022, the ICF has organized today in Girona the third Meeting for sustainable economic growth. The event, which took place in the Josep Irla auditorium of the Government of the Generalitat delegation in Girona, was attended by a hundred representatives of companies and organizations in the tourism industry.

The Minister of Economy and Finance of the Generalitat, Natàlia Mas Guix, highlighted during the inauguration of the act the role of public banking, and of the ICF in particular, as an element to promote and support the transformations that Catalonia needs. "Public banking plays a very important role in the European financial sector, and we want it to play in Catalonia as well," he said.

In this sense, the minister remarked that the ICF will be "the best possible ally" so that companies can carry out their strategy towards sustainable growth, and insisted that "in the ICF you will find fundamental support and a multitude of instruments to face the challenges of the future".

During her speech, the CEO of the public financial entity, Vanessa Servera, emphasized the role of the ICF as a public promotional bank that "complements", with medium and long-term financing instruments, the catalog of products offered by the private financial sector to companies. "From the ICF we will be an ally of the SMEs and the self-employed in Catalonia to give viability to their projects when things are going well, and a travel companion when, at some point, things go wrong", he assured.

In this sense, Servera has also provided data on the activity of the ICF in the Girona counties during the last two years. As it has quantified, the ICF allocated a total of 87 million euros to finance projects of 166 companies, mainly in the industry, trade and industry sector and, to a lesser extent, in culture, sport and the primary sector. The average term of the operations has been seven years and they have largely served to respond to the working capital needs derived from the economic crisis caused by the pandemic.

For her part, Anna Álvarez, credit investments general director of the ICF, has reviewed some of the loans that the entity makes available to the business fabric for strategic sectors of the economy such as industry or projects linked to sustainability, innovation or social housing. "In addition, from the ICF we also want to support companies in the face of crises such as covid, inflation, lack of supplies or the effects of storms caused by climate change", added Álvarez.

Next, a round table took place on the future challenges of SMEs in Catalonia with representatives of companies with very different projects: Joan Boix, general manager of Noel, Laura Seras, financial director of Tecnic, and Jordi Palacín, director general of Samba Hotels. The commercial delegate of the ICF in Girona, Francesc Roche, accompanied them in the debate.

During the meeting, attendees also had the opportunity to participate in two workshops linked to current issues: one on Next Generation European Funds, by Marc Puig, head of MRR analysis at the General Directorate of European Funds and Aid of State, and another on sustainability and climate change, by Salvador Samitier, head of the Catalan Climate Change Office, and Gabriel Borràs, responsible for the adaptation area of the same office.

About the ICF

The ICF is the public financial institution of Catalonia. Its main mission is to promote the financing of the business fabric in Catalonia in order to contribute to the growth, innovation and sustainability of the Catalan economy. The ICF acts as a complement to the private sector, offering a wide range of financing solutions focused on loans, guarantees and venture capital investment. Since 2014, it has been a member of the European Association of Public Banks (EAPB), which brings together most of the banks and public financial institutions operating in Europe.