The ICF held this Thursday at the Forum Berger Balaguer in Vilafranca the "Meeting for sustainable economic growth", a dialogue forum on the main future challenges of the economy and the business fabric, which brought together around fifty businessmen and businesswomen from Penedès

The ICF, during the years 2020 and 2022, has supported the local business fabric by granting financing to 118 companies, for a total amount of 90.3 million euros. With an average return of 11 years, this financing has made it possible to stimulate official protection housing, innovation, competitiveness and business development in the region.

The CEO of the ICF, Vanessa Servera, has highlighted the importance of promoting transformative projects in the life of a company, which promote sustainable development and reindustrialization in the Penedès region. Servera has underlined the ICF's commitment to finance business initiatives that contribute to these key areas for the local economy, explaining that the entity complements the offer of the private sector by providing very long repayment terms that can reach up to 30 years depending on the project. For a company to have the ICF within its group of banks is to have a travel companion for when the situation goes wrong.

The general director of credit investments of the ICF, Anna Álvarez, has explained the financial solutions available to companies, both for their working capital needs and for investments aimed at growth, digitization and the transition to to more sustainable business models, and presented the two delegates to the territory.

In this meeting, two relevant companies from the area, 4R Hotels and Sandhar, were also presented, who shared their experiences in the transformation towards a more sustainable business model. Through their interventions, they highlighted the importance of the support obtained by their company from the ICF, support that was manifested both at the beginning by financing expansion projects, and later in the midst of the pandemic with covid loans for circulating

The Meeting for Sustainable Economic Growth in Vilafranca del Penedès has brought together entrepreneurs, investors, representatives of the public sector and other key actors, with the aim of promoting collaboration and synergy between the different economic agents. Through dialogue and the exchange of experiences, the aim is to reaffirm the ICF's commitment to the promotion of transformative business projects in the Penedès, to encourage local entrepreneurship and to establish new connections that favor business development.

Practical workshops on current issues

During the meeting, businessmen were also able to participate in several workshops to find out how to access calls for Next Generation funds, and what initiatives they can implement in companies to reduce the impact of their activity on the environment.

Gemma Jané, Head of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism Program of the Government of Catalonia, and Gabriel Borràs, head of the Adaptation Area of the Catalan Climate Change Office, have been in charge of teaching the workshops.

About the ICF

The ICF is Catalonia's public promotion bank and, as such, its main mission is to promote the growth of companies and entities. Through loans and capital, it finances relevant and transformative projects, with particular emphasis on the green transition, reindustrialisation and social housing. The entity often acts as a complement to commercial banking, offering long repayment terms with the aim of facilitating the return of the debt. 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.