CABEI participates in Sixth Summit of the Americas to support Central American Development
With the implementation of technical and cooperation policies, CABEI has assisted the region to make significant improvements in the areas of social development, infrastructure and communications.
Tegucigalpa.- The Sixth Summit of the Americas 2012 will start tomorrow in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia with the participation of 34 heads of state. The summit will focus on regional cooperation as a means for achieving higher development levels.
The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) will participate in the forum, which is held every 3 years, using its extensive experience to help contribute to the definition of a hemispheric agenda. For 52 years CABEI has been an essential promoter of Central American development projects, particularly in the areas of infrastructure and poverty reduction, and currently in the field of clean energy.
At the Summit, CABEI Executive President Dr. Nick Rischbieth said that during the past 5 decades the Bank has financed over 600 infrastructure and energy projects for a total of approximately US$7.0 billion invested in Central America.
As the region’s financial arm, CABEI has promoted the processes of physical, economic and commercial integration of the Central American region. At the same time, it has fostered the optimum management, conservation and use of natural resources.
In order to support Central America in its efforts to reduce rural and urban poverty, and conscious that MSMEs play a major role as a productive engine of the area’s economies, multilateral institutions have especially targeted the development of this sector, which currently has a portfolio of about US$300 million, said Dr. Rischbieth.
He further explained that with respect to the issue of disaster risk reduction and management, CABEI has participated in dialogues, analyses, and inter-sector and interregional debates on the progress and recommendations for the implementation of the Central American Policy for Integral Disaster Risk Management (PCGIR1) and the Regional Strategy on Climate Change (ERCC2).
The Summit will specifically focus on issues related to disaster reduction, regional physical infrastructure, public safety and poverty reduction, all areas where CABEI has extensive experience.
With respect to public safety, CABEI has provided technical support for the definition and design of a financial mechanism for the administration of a fund to finance the Central American Security Strategy. The Strategy’s objective is to strengthen cooperation on security issues and fight organized crime and is a response to initiatives at the Eleventh Meeting of Heads of State and Government of the Tuxtla Mechanism for Dialogue and Coordination.
It is noteworthy that CABEI’s participation in the Mesoamerica Project, which includes the entire area from Southern Mexico to Colombia, has supported projects amounting to US$920.4 million in the infrastructure, electricity and road infrastructure interconnection, transportation services and housing sectors.
With CABEI’s US$953.7 million contribution to the Puebla Panama Plan, the precursor to the Mesoamerica Project, the total amount approved by the Bank to support the region reached US$1.87 billion, making it the main source of multilateral financing for these initiatives.
