With CABEI's support, Costa Rica begins negotiations to obtain European Union backing for financing the Rapid Passenger Train
• The multilateral mission, together with the Minister of Public Works and Transportation and the president of the Costa Rican Railroad Institute, held a series of meetings in Brussels, Belgium and Spain.
San José, November 18th, 2023 - Reaffirming its role as the bridge of opportunities between the region and the world, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) brought together in Europe Costa Rican public transportation authorities with representatives of the European Union (EU), the Spanish Railway Association - Mafex, the Business Agency for Economic Transformation and Development - Andalucía TRADE, and private sector companies to present the sustainable transportation projects to be developed in the country and to evaluate their participation.
As a result of the meetings in Belgium, the European Investment Bank (EIB) offered its support to the Rapid Passenger Train project, starting with the analysis to grant the resources required to complement the investment plan, as well as the contribution of an additional US$250 million to the CABEI loan for US$550 million, which is also co-financed by the Green Climate Fund for US$250 million with an annual interest rate of close to 0%, and a term of up to 40 years with a grace period of up to 10 years.
It is worth noting that this international organization, CABEI's ally, extended the deadline for the financing subscription under discussion in the Legislative Assembly until April 2025, demonstrating its support for Incofer's new plans to make this important national initiative a reality.
Several meetings were also held with the EU, including with the Global Gateway, an initiative that seeks to promote solutions to the most pressing global challenges, such as the fight against climate change, and which showed interest in supporting Costa Rica with donations to promote sustainable transportation.
On the other hand, in Spain, together with MAFEX, a meeting was held with 15 companies from the railway sector interested in participating in projects of this nature, and later a technical visit was made to the Atocha station railway complex, where the different types of transport that are intertwined in that station could be observed.
The mission, made up of CABEI’s Director for Costa Rica, Erwen Masís, the chief country officer, Álvaro Alfaro, the head of Spain and Europe’s representation, Mauricio Chacón, as well as the Minister of Public Works and Transport (MOPT), Luis Amador, and the president of the Costa Rican Railway Institute (Incofer), Álvaro Bermúdez, concluded with a meeting with the Malaga railway cluster, organized by Andalucía TRADE, to interact with different companies related to this industry and to assess their possible support for initiatives of this type currently financed by CABEI in the Central American region.
