NETHERLANDS - Holland Financial Centre (HFC), the public-private organisation to promote the Dutch financial industry, is to launch a Green Investment Corporation (GIC) as a matchmaker between cleantech companies and the financial sector.
Speaking at the Responsible Investor conference in Amsterdam, Ruud Nijs, the scheme's project manager, said: "It will open up investment opportunities in the green building technology for pension funds, asset managers and the government."
He said the GIC's main objective was to help make more funds available for vital investment in sustainable economic growth and to create job opportunities in construction and the energy industry.
He added that the GIC would aim at partnering with investors through co-financing and mezzanine investments, and combine small projects.
Its initial focus will be on energy-efficiency in existing buildings and decentralised energy generation, Nijs added.
According to the project manager, a feasibility study has shown that complicated legal constructions, changing regulation, as well as complex investment proposals, are common barriers for investors to approve deals.
"Meanwhile, small companies often lack the skills for scaling up and marketing their products," he said.
The projects need an initial investment of €100m, which HFC is trying to achieve through public-private funding, Nijs said.
The GIC is expected to make its first investments by the end of 2012.
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