CABEI, the bridge between the Republic of Korea and Central America.

Korea is CABEI’s most recent extra- regional member, having finalized its incorporation process in 2020. It is the extra-regional member with the second largest shareholding with 7.67%, a subscribed capital of USD630.00 million and capital contributions of USD33.75 million. The country actively supports Central America through various financial contribution contracts for an amount of USD800.0 million. During 2020, the Bank contracted an On-Lending Facility with the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) for USD50.0 million to finance operations under the COVID-19 Emergency Support, Preparedness, and Economic Reactivation Program. Likewise, on August 19 of 2020 a USD 50 million contribution was received by the Korea-CABEI Partnership Single Donor Trust Fund (KTF). A second contribution was received in 2021 for the amount of USD 10 million.

In 2022, CABEI opened its representative office in the Republic of Korea located in the International Finance Center (IFC), Yeouido, Seoul, Korea.

The Republic of Korea and CABEI sign a US$50 million Trust Fund for Grants to support the Central American region

19/05/2020

This is the single largest non-reimbursable financial cooperation in CABEI’s history

Tegucigalpa, May 19, 2020- Within the framework of the Republic of Korea’s recent incorporation as a non-regional member, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoEF) signed a US$50 million Grant Agreement for non-reimbursable financial cooperation to be channeled through a Trust Fund managed by CABEI.

The Agreement’s financial resources, to be received over the next five years, will contribute to develop economic, financial and technical studies for the design and execution of important projects in the Central American region, especially those that look to enhance regional integration and sustainable development amongst eligible countries.

As such, these resources will be used to identify and prepare projects that include international content, technologies and best practices, especially from the Republic of Korea, in relevant areas such as Health, Energy, Social and Productive Infrastructure, Freight and Passenger Transportation, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, among others.

For his part, CABEI’s Executive President, Dr. Dante Mossi, stated that such Agreement “further strengthens our relationship with the Republic of Korea and Asia taking into account that, through this cooperation, the transfer of knowledge and technology to the Central American region can be used to formulate initiatives in key sectors; while best practices in areas such as economic development and growth will be widely promoted, considering they have led this Asian country to become the eleventh economy of the world.”

Likewise, Dr. Mossi pointed out that “this Agreement takes place at a key moment, during which additional initiatives can be implemented to support the region’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, especially in the Health sector.”

The Republic of Korea officially joined CABEI as a non-regional member on December 31, 2019 through a US$450 million capital subscription which accounts to a 7.2% shareholder stake and made its first of four capital installments for US$28.1 million on January 10, 2020. Likewise, loan agreements with official resources for US$500 million have been signed for public and private sector projects. Such loans have been focused on developing areas such as road infrastructure, construction and equipment of hospitals, as well as energy through the production and distribution of natural gas, among others.

CABEI currently has 15 shareholders in its capital structure; 5 founding shareholders: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica; 3 non-founding regional shareholders: Panama, the Dominican Republic and Belize and 7 non-regional shareholders: Taiwan, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Spain, Cuba and Republic of Korea.