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Additional inputs to impact investing: a Centre of Expertise to be set up

Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment
Publication date 21.11.2019 13.53
Press release
Timo Harakka

The 2020 budget proposal has been supplemented with an additional appropriation of EUR 600,000 for establishing a Centre of Expertise for impact investing under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

“The Centre of Expertise for impact investing continues the good work done for more than five years at the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra. Impact investing is a good example of how we can contribute to finding new solutions for promoting employment and create new financing models across the whole public sector,” Minister of Employment Timo Harakka says.

Impact investing is a model where the public sector, service provider (company or organisation), provider of financing (private investor) and project manager responsible for coordinating the contract work together to define precise, measurable objectives for the projects. The public sector will only pay for outcomes that are in line with the objectives.

One form of impact investing is the performance-based Social Impact Bond (SIB), and one example of these projects is the Integration SIB project concerned with the integration of immigrants and helping them find employment as quickly as possible, launched in 2017.

The task of the new Centre of Expertise is to improve the procurement skills relating to public sector performance, develop the impact investing market, model the societal benefits of the projects, and make these new, alternative financing models more widely known. The Centre of Expertise advises the different stakeholders - public sector, project managers and service providers - in preparatory work concerning the contracts.

The Centre of Expertise should be operational on 1 January 2020.

Further inputs in fast-track education and training to ease skill shortages

The amendment to the budget proposal also contains an appropriation of EUR 20 million to continuing education, retraining and upgrading of qualifications that will have a quick impact in terms of easing skill shortages.

Read more in the press release of the Ministry of Education and Culture and Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

Inquiries:
Ville Kopra, Special Adviser to the Minister of Labour, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 40 8261 358

 
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