ICO and CABEI sign second agreement to promote the international expansion of Spanish companies

May 7, 2018.- The Official Credit Institute (ICO) has granted a new line of credit for an amount of 30 million euros (or its equivalent in USD) to the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) to finance companies with "Spanish interest" operating in Central American countries and the Dominican Republic.

The financing of the companies will be channeled either through CABEI's Collaborating Financial Institutions established in these countries or directly through CABEI. The agreement will finance both investment and liquidity operations and export operations in the medium and long term.

This second agreement signed today by the President of the ICO, Pablo Zalba, and the President of CABEI, Dr. Nick Rischbieth, consolidates the success of this initiative and strengthens the relationship between both institutions. The first ICO-CABEI financing agreement signed in March 2017 amounting to 25 million euros has been fully disbursed.

Both agreements are part of the ICO Canal Internacional Line, whose objective is to promote the financing of projects of companies with Spanish interest and international implantation, through intermediation with Multilateral Institutions and with local financial entities. The main novelty that this product incorporates with respect to the financing lines of the ICO is the possibility of financing the projects in local currency, and the knowledge of the market by the local financial institution.

Pablo Zalba, president of ICO, stressed the importance of continuing to work closely with CABEI and said that "financing the internationalization of companies is equal to supporting economic growth and job creation."

The Executive President of CABEI, Dr. Nick Rischbieth, said that "it is important to continue with the use of this type of financial tools that allow long-term investment projects, promote the competitiveness of countries and their knowledge and experience, in addition to new jobs, all in favor of the development of the Bank's member countries."

As multilateral financial institutions for development in the region, CABEI and ICO share similar objectives, joining efforts to improve the interventions of both entities in the establishment of economic and social development, which is why relations of mutual institutional cooperation have been maintained since 1991, having channeled an accumulated US $213.5 million in mediation, through various CABEI interventions and programs, with the provision of resources for support to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as one of its most notable contributions.

Within the framework of the ICO Canal Internacional Line, the ICO has already signed other agreements with three leading institutions in Latin America in the financing of investments and exports of companies with Spanish interest in the area: the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) , the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), and the Inter-American Finance Bank (BanBif) of Peru.

In addition, the ICO, with the aim of expanding its geographic scope of action by financing projects of companies with Spanish interests, not only in Latin America but also in the US, has signed a Financing Agreement with Banco Sabadell Miami Branch, which is the first agreement in the framework of the ICO Canal Internacional Line with a Spanish private bank located outside of Spain.