The Inter-American Development Bank will provide $153 million to a new capital investment platform for Latin America and the Caribbean, in partnership with the Export-Import Bank of China.
A statement from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) reads:
IDB approves $153 million in loans to establish an IDB and China Eximbank capital investment platform
Costa Rica will host the sixth China - Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Business Summit, to be held in October 2013.
The summit organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) seeks to strengthen trade relations between the two regions.
"The Ministry of Foreign Trade said in a statement that the summit "’is the business forum with the greatest amount of trade and investment between Latin America and the Asian giant and attracts high-level representatives from government, business and the academic sector’ ", reported Prensalibre.com.
More than 130 Mesoamerican companies in the food sector offered their products to more than 40 buyers from Japan, China, South Korea, the United States, Canada and Latin America.
Among the activities at Manufexport 2012, was the fourth edition of LAC Flavors in Antigua, Guatemala, held from 11 to 13 July.
According to a statement from the Inter-American Development Bank, “The event, organized by the IDB and the Government of Guatemala, will bring together SMEs selected for their export capacity, quality certifications, and fair trade practices. The companies take part in more than 1,200 appointments through a new system of matchmaking: IDB experts study the characteristics of each exporter in order to make various appointments with the buyers that represent the best choice of partner.
The financing has been assured by the Inter-American Development Bank, but the construction works that would increase the influx of international tourism by 20% are still awaiting a political decision.
IDB funds of $6.3 million, the land and the plans are all available, the only thing lacking is the political will to build it.
The president of the National Chamber of Tourism in Honduras (CANATURH), Epaminondas Marinakys together with a Spanish expert in tourism have met with the Finance Minister who promised to carry out the project, adding "even if it is late, it has to be done" .
The Honduran government has announced, for June 13, the start of a tender process for the purchase of computers to be distributed in schools.
From a press release by the presidency of Honduras:
The presidential appointee and Minister of the Presidency, Marie Antoinette Guillen has announced that Thursday June 13 will see the start of a tender process for the purchase of computers to be distributed in schools as part of ‘Educatrachos’, also known as "one laptop per child".
According to the IDB, the percentage of the population living in substandard homes or those who do not have adequate housing, reaches 78% in Nicaragua, 67% in Guatemala, 58% in El Salvador, 57% in Honduras, 39% in Panama and 18% in Costa Rica.
An IDB study indicates that over two thirds of households in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Bolivia and Peru live in poor housing. Brazil and Mexico are the countries which have the largest deficits.
The new finance minister has announced plans to restructure Honduras’ public debt of about $5.8 billion, almost all of it in short-term format, with high interest rates.
Honduras is facing a severe debt problem which could become a disaster for their public finances.
Public debt, external and internal, had reached $5.772 billion up to December 31st, 2011 .
The IDB, CABEI, and the World Bank top the list of the seven financial institutions that together have pledged a total of $3.189 billion in loans for the development of public works.
The amount still available in the Honduran loan portfolio for external funding is $1.254 billion. The total amount of loans approved is $3.189 billion.
"From January 1st to February 17th, 2012, disbursements amounted to $45.7 million", reports Elheraldo.hn.
A website will allow senders to compare the costs of their remittances from the U.S. to Central America, encouraging competition between providers of such services.
The Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA), the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) and World Bank today (Thursday 2 February) launched enviacentroamerica.org, a free online tool that can be used to compare and make transparent the costs of remittances from the United States to six Central American countries and the Dominican Republic.
Later this month construction will begin on a plant for drying and storing onions in the municipality of Güinope, El Paraíso.
The head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG), Jacobo Regalado, also announced the planned construction of another plant in the department of Ocotepequeuna. In addition, a facility for drying and storing potatoes will be built in Intibucá.
This is a record in the history of the country, representing an almost 80% increase compared to expenditures in 2010 and three times the average of the last five years.
A press release from the Inter-American Development Bank reads:
Honduras received from the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) in 2011 about U.S. $300 million in disbursements, of which about U.S.
The loans are intended to support pension system and financial sector reform, and to help the country cope with natural disasters.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved three loans to Honduras for a total of $180 million to support reforms to the pension system and financial sector, and to help the country cope with natural disasters.
And apparently for bureaucracies in general, including those of international organizations; an "expert" from the Inter-American Development Bank is supporting tax reform in Costa Rica.
Although officially the IDB "does not advocate a tax burden or specific tax policy," one of its officials warmly supports the project to increase the tax burden to support the Costa Rican economy, to the point of suggesting that the tax burden be similar to Argentina’s.
The organization will contribute $98 million for the construction of the Hydroelectric Project ‘Vegona’.
The IFC, a member of the World Bank and Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB) will provide $98 million to fund the largest hydropower project in Honduras, to be built by Compañía Hondureña de Energía Renovable S.A. (COHERSA).
The project will generate 181 gigawatt hours of electricity per year, and will be financed with a principal loan granted by the IFC, and another syndicated one to be provided by the Development Bank of Austria (OeBD).