Agreement to Strengthen the Latin American Private Sector

(Washington, October 18, 2011).- Enrique García, CAF’s executive president, and Hugo Bosmans, president of the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), signed a memorandum of understanding that seeks to strengthen the region’s private sector by co-financing companies in order to contribute to the region’s growth and development.

During the signing, mention was made of the work of CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, for its 18 shareholder countries, in allocating resources from other countries towards the region.

“With this agreement, the Latin American private sector will be able to access short-, medium- and long-term financing, which is usually difficult to obtain, especially for SMEs, in order to contribute to the improvement of productivity and the competitiveness of the region in the global market,” Enrique García said.

We are hopeful that the co-financing that will result from this agreement will be directed towards the financial sector (banks, investment funds, and others), and towards private companies and private sector infrastructure projects. The latter includes sustainable and clean energy, transportation, ports, airports, water, sanitation and the environment.

Furthermore, this agreement will promote the interchange of knowledge and will strengthen the relations between the Belgian Government agency and the Latin American countries. It will also promote a dialog between the public and private sectors.

The Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries ("Société belge d’Investissement pour les Pays en Développement" – BIO) has the mission to create a strong private sector in the emerging countries so that they may have a framework for growth and sustainable development in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.