The EquiFund is an investment initiative with a significant effect on the economy and the society, Alternate Economy and Development Minister Alexis Charitsis said on Sunday in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.
Meanwhile, Direct Foreign Investments in Greece increased 29.4 pct in 2017 compared to 2016, which translates into 3.6 billion euros.
The EquiFund is the largest financial instrument of this type that is currently being implemented in Europe with public funds and is being implemented at a time when one of the biggest problems faced by enterprises, primarily innovative ones, is to ensure liquidity.
The Fund was set up by the Economy and Development Ministry in cooperation with the European Investment Fund (EIF) and is expected to make a decisive contribution to setting up new businesses, implementing important business ideas and creating quality jobs.
The new financing tool is part of the country's development strategy, as it is a tool for alternative funding for businesses, with emphasis on areas of high added value. The main objectives are to support research, innovation and their integration into productive activity, to support industry and to strengthen business extroversion.
"The key issue is to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), notably innovative enterprises that can produce products and services with high added value, but also the link between research and entrepreneurship," Charitsis underlined.