The ‘Caixa Econômica Federal’ (a federal bank) has signed this Thursday, June 21, in Rio de Janeiro, a cooperation protocol with Minas Gerais State’s Federation of Industries’ System (Sistema da Federação das Indústrias do Estado de Minas Gerais - FIEMG) to boost investment in actions aimed at environmental compliance of companies in the State of  Minas Gerais.

The partnership provides credit lines to promote cleaner industrial production and energy efficiency, by reducing waste and emissions while optimizing the use of raw materials such as water and energy.

The ceremony, held at CAIXA’s stand at Parque dos Atletas, during the Rio +20 Conference, was attended by the President of CAIXA, Jorge Fontes Hereda, and the President of FIEMG, Olaf Machado Júnior. It was also attended by CAIXA’s vice president for Government and Housing, José Urbano Duarte. President Hereda stressed that CAIXA, in partnership with FIEMG, will work for Brazil to advance in a sustainable manner.

"CAIXA has always been concerned with eco-efficiency; this is in the genesis of this institution. There are resources available for sustainable projects and we want these alternatives to reach all companies in the country. The agreement signed today has everything to do with the two institutions," added José Urbano.

By proposing financial solutions and providing credit lines for the implementation of the agreement, CAIXA, along with FIEMG, can develop new products for the development of eco-efficiency in the region. However, there are already several lines focused on sustainability, which will be offered, such as ‘Credfrota’, ‘Automatic BNDES’, FINAME and, specifically for cleaner production, ‘Eco-efficiency BCD’.

According to CAIXA’s Vice-President José Urbano, "CAIXA could act on more than 27 thousand companies affiliated to FIEMG in Minas Gerais, the majority made up of micro and small enterprises, consolidating the value of the bank to promote the economic, financial and socio-environmental sustainability".

FIEMG System

The system is formed by FIEMG, by the Industrial and Business Center of Minas Gerais State(Centro Industrial e Empresarial de Minas Gerais - CIEMG), the Social Service of Industry (Serviço Social da Indústria - SESI/MG), National Service for Industrial Learning (Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial - Senai/MG), Euvaldo Lodi Institute (IEL) and ‘Estrada Real Institute’ (IER). The federation has 27.493 affiliated companies, with annual revenues of R$ 650 million.

The signing of the agreement consolidates an old partnership. The FIEMG system already has, with CAIXA, more than R$ 100 million in financial assets and an average balance of R$ 1.2 million