CAF opens office in Montevideo

(Montevideo, December 8, 2010). With the presence of Vice President Danilo Astori and CAF President & CEO Enrique García, the office of Latin American financial institution was opened in Montevideo, deepening its presence and relations with Uruguay. The office will have regional scope since it will assist projects in all the Southern Cone countries.

Set up in the 1970s with the Andean countries as founders, CAF has now become a development bank with Latin American dimension, formed by 18 countries, and playing an important role in the sustainable development and integration of the region.

CAF President & CEO Enrique Garcia said the opening of the Montevideo office, based in Torre Ejecutiva, is a further sign of the consolidation of the institution in the region, and reflects the intention to "work more closely with the Uruguayans by providing decisive support for their economic, social and environmental development strategies." "Uruguay has been a CAF shareholder - García added - since December 2001 and relations have intensified in recent years, with a total of US$1.70 billion approved so far for the country's development."

The opening ceremony was attended by CAF Board members including Uruguayan Economy Minister Fernando Lorenzo, and Central Bank President Mario Bergara, along with the director representative of the institution in Uruguay, Gladis Genua. Also present were senior ministry officials, lawmakers, important personalities from the political world, former presidents of the Republic, former ministers, and representatives of the private sector.

CAF, a development bank of Latin America for Latin America

An outstanding characteristic of the development bank is that it is a multilateral financial organization owned by emerging countries, which means its agenda is made in Latin America for Latin America.

CAF has enjoyed significant growth in recent years, as shown by the fact that the annual amount of approvals increased from US$500 million in 1980 to over US$10.50 billion in 2010.

With the dimension acquired over 40 years, the bank has become a valuable support for achieving the expected growth of the countries of the region. According to its CEO, “even in very difficult world economic conditions, CAF has provided decisive, countercyclical and timely backing for its shareholder countries, while obtaining highly satisfactory financial and operating results.”

The institution is now the main source of multilateral financing for the Andean region and infrastructure in Latin America, with emphasis on projects that promote regional integration the CAF chief added.

CAF has also become an important source of knowledge generation and promotion of technological development, at the same time as developing activities which strengthen competitiveness, stimulate SMEs and microenterprises, improve democratic governance, modernize and decentralize the state, and promote subnational, local and community development, he added.

The institution's operating activity is part of an Integrated Development Agenda which aims to reconcile the objectives of macroeconomic stability, microeconomic efficiency, social equity and environmental balance in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Along with its growth, the Latin American development bank has maintained its financial strength, showing consistent improvement in credit ratings; as a result, it is now the frequent issuer with the best risk ratings in Latin America.

To conclude Garcia said,"CAF’s successful development has been due to the unwavering support of the shareholder countries, resulting in regular capital increases and full compliance with all financial obligations.”

In this respect, he added that last year the Board approved an increase of US$2.50 billion in paid-in capital, which joins the US$1.50 billion increase following the entry of Argentina, Brazil, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay as full members. These funds will double the institution's assets over the next decade to approximately US$12.00 billion, and allow the tripling of operations designed to meet and respond to the needs of the region.