CAF participates in 7th CELAC Summit in Buenos Aires

CAF—development bank of Latin America—participated as an observer in the 7th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in the city of Buenos Aires, organized by the Argentine presidency pro tempore. Attendees included Executive President Sergio Diaz Granados and Corporate Vice President of Strategic Programming Christian Asinelli.
“Along with the Argentine presidency pro tempore, CAF wishes to reaffirm our commitment to working towards greater economic, social, and cultural integration among the countries of the region, as well as to renewing our commitment to address Latin America’s challenges together,” said Díaz Granados.
“With our participation in this Summit, CAF pledges to reinforce the historical ties that unite the peoples of the region, as well as strengthen our ties with Latin American governments and work with them to foster the green transition and economic recovery of Latin America and the Caribbean,” added Asinelli.

CAF authorities congratulated the Argentine government on the achievements made in the year of CELAC’s presidency pro tempore and pledged their support to the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, who takes office as president of the organization. As one of the pillars, CAF will work together with the president pro tempore to strengthen ties between the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union (EU), with a view to the EU-ECLAC Summit of Heads of State and Government scheduled for the second half of 2023. In this connection, the organization seeks to promote the Business Summit together with European institutions, which seeks to contribute to economic and social development with sustainability and inclusion, pursuant to the goals of the 2030 Agenda.
In addition, in the coming months the bank will actively participate in the First Meeting of Ministers of Economy and Finance of EU and Latin American and Caribbean countries, scheduled for mid-September 2023 in Santiago de Compostela. This will be the first meeting of the 27 Ministers of the EU member countries together with their 33 CELAC counterparts.

HISTORICAL MEMORY AS AN INTEGRATION TOOL

In addition, before the start of the Summit, president Sergio Díaz Granados and corporate vice president Christian Asinelli toured with Presidents Alberto Fernández and Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and former President of Bolivia Evo Morales the exhibit “Indigenous Peoples, Warriors of Time”, by photographer Ricardo Stuckert, sponsored by CAF and presented at the Kirchner Cultural Center (CCK) in the city of Buenos Aires.
Stucker’s work captures the diversity and plurality of Brazilian indigenous culture, as he is internationally renowned for his work as a political and documentary photographer. Between 2003 and 2011, he served as official photographer of Brazil’s President’s Office, during the governments of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“For CAF it is a real honor to attend the inauguration of this photographic exhibit. We do so as part of our commitment to promote sustainable and inclusive development, and under the premise that Latin American and Caribbean integration also involves the arts, culture and the visibility of historical memory,” noted Díaz Granados.

FINANCING FOR ARGENTINA

At the end of his visit to the country, Executive President Sergio Diaz-Granados led the CAF delegation that met with Economy Minister Sergio Massa, and authorities of the Ministry of Energy, who analyzed the progress of the studies on complementary works to the Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline, which will be financed by the agency. The Northern Gas Pipeline Reversal Project will allow gas to be transported from the Neuquén basin to the provinces in central and northern Argentina through the Central-West Gas Pipeline and interconnection with the North Gas Pipeline. In addition, it will enable the export of surplus natural gas to Chile, Bolivia and/or Brazil. The operation is in the process of technical evaluation by CAF, for subsequent approval at the meeting of Chilean directors in March 2023. They also discussed this year’s project portfolio for Argentina, as well as the challenges and opportunities in the country and the region.