Bolivian cities benefit from credit

(La Paz, September 21, 2007).– The government of Bolivia and CAF will sign, in the city of Santa Cruz this Friday, a loan agreement to finance execution of the “Y of integration” road program, to be executed by the Bolivian Road Administration (ABC). The signing will take place in the presence of Bolivian President Evo Morales, and CAF President & CEO Enrique García.

García said the objective of the project was to build a third paved road corridor between east and west, at the same time as upgrading the integration of the city of Sucre with the rest of the country. "The operation will stimulate the national economy by reducing transportation costs, as well as raising productivity and the standard of living of the communities in the area of influence of the road," he added.

Subject to these considerations, García said the specific objectives of the Program were "support for the social progress of the communities of Chuquisaca, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz which have approximately two million inhabitants; become an alternative for connecting part of the Bi-Oceanic corridor to distribute traffic between Cochabamba and Santa Cruz to Brazil on the east and Peru and Chile on the west; and linking this Corridor with southern Bolivia and Argentina."

The CAF loan is equivalent to 68%; the remaining 32% will be funded by local contributions by the Bolivian State and the departments where the projects will be executed.

The road over 330 km in length is located on two routes of the Basic Road Network, which connect the capitals of Cochabamba, Chuquisaca and Santa Cruz departments. The route crosses the provinces of Punata, Arani, Mizque and Campero in Cochabamba and Caballero in Santa Cruz. The road program consists of the Paracaya-Mizque-Aiquile subprograms developed in northwest-southeast direction, which start in the locality of Aiquile and join 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 the branch of the East-West integration corridor.