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European Fund for Strategic Investment seeks funds in Asia


The European Union is looking for Asian capital to invest in the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), Reuters has reported . 

The EFSI investment plan, run by the European Investment Bank, aims to create jobs and revive growth across Europe, as part of a €315 billion (US$353 billion) "investment offensive".

The EU hopes to use the EFSI to invest in a range of projects in infrastructure, education, research, innovation, renewable energy and energy efficiency, it said. It has committed €16bn from its own budget in guarantees and will fund around 20% of each project.

The EU presented the fund in Hong Kong this week, Reuters said, in a first step outside Europe.

"Asia right now is flush with liquidity and European companies are a bargain. It's a no brainer for Asian investors, particularly Chinese ones, to diversify into Europe," Vincent Chu, Chairman of First Eastern Investment Group, told Reuters. Chu who has already invested more than $300 million in the region, Reuters said.

Chu told Reuters that Chinese companies want to access European technology and know-how.

This knowledge, however, is often only available from smaller companies that are reluctant to accept Chinese investors, Raymond Yip, deputy director at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council told Reuters.

The plan is already attracting interest from sovereign wealth funds in Asia and in the Gulf, an EU official told Reuters.

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