Approved US$70 million for Bolivian road infrastructure

The objective of the program is to improve and expand Bolivia’s road infrastructure with the aim of promoting and creating incentives for national and international physical integration, which is part of the government’s economic and social development strategy.

CAF president & CEO Enrique García explained that "this operation takes into account fundamental aspects that favorably affect the fight against poverty and the integration of our member countries." The specific objectives of the program include "supporting the social progress of the communities of Cochabamba, Chuquisaca and Santa Cruz, which total approximately two million people; creating an alternative for connecting part of the Bio-Oceanic corridor by dividing traffic between Cochabamba and Santa Cruz toward Brazil on the east, and toward Peru and Chile on the west, and linking this corridor with the south of the country and Argentina."

The CAF loan is equivalent to 60% of the total cost of the project. The remaining 32% will be financed by local contributions from the Bolivian State and the departments where the projects are to be executed.

The program affects a length of over 330 kilometers on two roads of the Fundamental Road Network which connect the departmental capitals of Cochabamba, Chuquisaca and Santa Cruz. Its route crosses the provinces of Punata, Araní, Mizque and Campero in Cochabamba and Caballero in Santa Cruz. The road program is formed by the Paracaya–Mizque–Aiquile subprograms developed in northwest-southeast direction beginning in the locality of Aiquile and connecting with the Cochabamba-Santa Cruz paved road in the locality of Paracaya; and Puente Arce–Aiquile–La Palizada linking the cities of Sucre and Santa Cruz de la Sierra with a branch of the East-West Integration Corridor.