#FomentoEditorial: Doing things differently for those who make a difference

It is well known that IFIC has the great merit of having made it possible to channel a significant portion of funds from the Recovery and Resilience Plan into support for Business Innovation, ensuring that Portugal maximizes the impact of this support through 2026.

The Financial Instrument for Innovation and Competitiveness (IFIC) has indeed played a crucial role in directing a substantial share of Recovery and Resilience Plan funds toward supporting Business Innovation, ensuring that Portugal maximizes the impact of these supports through 2026. In Banco Português de Fomento’s first experience managing grants, in partnership with the Recover Portugal Mission Structure (EMRP), IFIC was structurally designed with four purposes, following a logic of complementarity with existing support instruments and of strengthening incentives to accelerate investment in strategic areas of the economy:

Companies quickly validated the conviction that IFIC would help leverage projects and reduce barriers to investment, responding massively to the opportunity and submitting, within a short period of time, more than 5,000 applications with an investment value exceeding €2.7 billion. Targets that we expect to soon be surpassed, with the expansion of eligibility to investments in the Autonomous Regions.

Companies and entrepreneurs said "yes” and took the first step. Now it is time for Banco Português de Fomento to respond with a sense of urgency and priority to the national economy, through active and ongoing communication, in partnership with companies, EMRP, and commercial banks. Without compromising the rigor and control required for the program’s success, we will work "side by side,” with streamlined processes, strengthened coordination, and transparent communication.

We will do so by leveraging the complementary nature of Banco Português de Fomento’s offering and the knowledge gained through our relationship with commercial banks. By combining grants with guarantees, investment, capital, and (soon) credit insurance, we will be able to identify alternatives and viable pathways in the assessment of each investment project, maximizing synergies and strengthening the value we can add to each company we support. So that the impact is meaningful and lasting. So that no euro of investment goes unexecuted. So that none of IFIC’s objectives remain unfulfilled. So that companies’ ambition never falls by the wayside, and through the hands of entrepreneurs the Portuguese economy grows with sustainability, resilience, strategy, purpose, and alignment.

We will do things differently in the way we support innovative projects, foster value creation, internationalization, and technological sovereignty, aligning Portugal with European goals for sustainable and digital growth. For those who make a difference: the companies and entrepreneurs who work daily and tirelessly to modernize and expand their businesses, in a context where innovation is decisive in addressing global challenges.