CABEI Executive President meets with Chilean Finance Minister

Tegucigalpa, October 18, 2013. - On October 11, the Executive President of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), Dr. Nick Rischbieth met with Chilean Finance Minister Felipe Larraín at the Annual Governors' Meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund held in Washington.

At the meeting, the CABEI Executive President talked about the Bank's evolution as a regional finance institution and the achievements that have transformed it into the principal multilateral financing institution in the Central American region.

Dr. Rischbieth took the occasion to express the Bank's desire to strengthen the political, economic, financial and commercial ties between Central America and Chile, pursuant to the 2008 incorporation of Chile to the Central American Integration System (SICA, Spanish acronym), with the entry into force of the Free Trade Agreement between Chile and the five Central American countries in 2012.

The CABEI President took the opportunity to highlight the importance of implementing the Pacific Alliance Initiative. "Currently, two of the Bank's non-regional members, Mexico and Colombia, are full members. Costa Rica has submitted its application to join, and Panama and Guatemala have also shown interest. This initiative will open the way for business development and investment opportunities in the Central American countries, and CABEI could be an excellent platform for providing technical and financial support," said Dr. Rischbieth.

Currently, CABEI is the region's development bank and the financial arm of Central American integration. It is also the main channel for external funds targeted at development projects in the region.