The European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a EUR 250 million loan agreement on 31 May with the Swedish telecom company Ericsson for research, development and innovation in fifth generation mobile telecommunications systems (5G). The loan was made possible by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe, which was launched by the EIB Group and the European Commission to boost the competitiveness of the European economy. On 31 May, the EIB also confirmed that it is providing EUR 35 million in new financing for the expansion of strategic oil reserves in Cyprus. To support the rehabilitation and modernisation of the Dutch “Afsluitdijk” dam, the EIB announced on 30 May that it is providing EUR 330 million. In Germany, a new KfW programme, part of the German government's Tech Growth Fund initiative, will strengthen financing for SMEs on the path to the digital future by means of a 50% EFSI guarantee. In Poland, the European Investment Fund (EIF) and CVI Dom Maklerski, the CEE leader in private debt financing, signed a guarantee agreement supporting a EUR 200 million portfolio of bonds to innovative Polish companies. Meanwhile, on 24 May the EIF and Caixa Geral de Depósitos signed a new guarantee agreement on a portfolio of loans of EUR 200 million to improve access to finance for SMEs in Portugal.