CABEI and EIB consolidate their cooperation for economic and social development
The signing of the agreement between the multilaterals is aimed at improving cooperation and the commercial relationship, promoting the mitigation of climate change and the needs of adaptation to climate change.
Tegucigalpa, March 26, 2018.- The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a memorandum of understanding with the aim of deepening institutional cooperation to support initiatives or projects of common interest and promote sustainable economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The agreement was signed by the Executive President of CABEI, Dr. Nick Rischbieth, and the EIB's Director for Global Partnerships, María Shaw-Barragán; within the framework of the Annual Meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank in Mendoza, Argentina.
This cooperation agreement will facilitate the realization of some objectives such as improving the financing of projects with an emphasis on climate action, modernization of regional infrastructure, development of joint initiatives to improve procurement, social and environmental standards, management of initiatives to exchange technical knowledge in the development analysis, and structuring and monitoring of operations.
In this sense, the Executive President of CABEI, Dr. Nick Rischbieth, indicated that "the EIB and CABEI can independently finance components of a specific project or even interrelated projects. With this partnership we hope to complement efforts in order to support projects of common interest that contribute to the economic and social development of the partner countries in Latin America and the Caribbean."
The EIB and CABEI already have a history of cooperation in the co-financing of projects and in the channeling of funds in the form of global and specific loans. The relationship started in 1999, as part of the European support package for Honduras after Hurricane Mitch. On that date, a global facility of EUR 35 million was signed to finance private sector projects to speed up the country's recovery. Additionally, in 2002, a second loan was subscribed for EUR 30 million to finance projects in the private sector with European interest in the region. In May 2003, a new loan agreement was signed for an amount of up to USD 40 million, which was used to finance the project "Electrical Interconnection System of the Central American Countries" (SIEPAC).
In recent years, the signing of the framework agreement called "Central America Climate Change Framework Loan II" (CACCFL II) stands out, for an amount of USD 231.63 million (EUR 175 million). Also, during the last few years several projects have been cofinanced, such as: "La Entrada-Copán Ruinas-El Florido and La Entrada-Santa Rosa de Copán Roads Rehabilitation Project, of the Republic of Honduras" and a Loan for the "Rehabilitation Project of the Juan Pablo II Track and the Construction of Overpasses Across the Republic of Nicaragua."
