The European Investment Bank (EIB) is granting a EUR 20 million loan to Laboratórios Basi - Indústria Farmacêutica, S.A. to finance the development of a new production facility for manufacturing medical products and parenteral solutions in the Municipality of Mortágua, district of Viseu. EIB Vice-President Román Escolano and the CEO and CFO of the Portuguese company, Joaquim Chaves and Luís Pedro Simões, have signed today the agreement, the first EIB direct loan to a Portuguese midcap company supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). The EFSI is the central pillar of the European Commission’s Investment Plan for Europe, the so-called “Juncker Plan".
Laboratórios Basi is a midcap company dedicated to the development, manufacturing and marketing of medicinal products for human use and other health products. This EIB loan will contribute to the establishment of a new unit that will increase the company´s production capacity. Once operational, the new unit will be able to produce up to 110 million of both large and small volume parenteral units a year. This modernisation will accelerate the growth of the firm and will also foster its internationalisation by increasing its export capacity. As a result, this investment financed by the EIB will contribute to the creation of qualified employment and to social cohesion. This project is expected to create 109 new jobs in the district of Viseu, a region in the interior of Portugal.
The agreement is the first signed in Portugal under the EIB midcap loans for Spain and Portugal programme, a platform aimed at supporting economic growth and employment by providing financing on advantageous terms to mid-sized companies. This loan programme is backed by the guarantee of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), one of the pillars of the so-called “Juncker Plan”.
At the signing ceremony in Lisbon, EIB Vice-President Román Escolano highlighted “the very positive social impact of this project, which will create qualified jobs in Portugal and promote the sustainable export growth and innovation of a Portuguese pharmaceutical company. This loan is the first in Portugal to be extended under our midcap programme guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments. This agreement also illustrates the strong EU commitment to foster innovation in Portugal and the EIB’s determination to fund investments in cohesion regions’’.
Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, said: "Under the Juncker Plan, operations worth over EUR 1.2 billion have already been approved in Portugal. This is expected to trigger around EUR 4 billion of investments, giving a boost to the economy. This deal shows how EU funding supports innovative companies in Portugal, creates jobs and improves public health".
Joaquim António de Matos Chaves, CEO of Laboratórios Basi, stated: “The implementation of this agreement with the EIB is decisive for the realisation of this innovative strategic investment in the field of parenteral solutions. This project will have an exponential impact on the productive, competitive and export capacity of the company as well as promoting the creation of more than 100 qualified jobs in Mortágua’’.
