CAF to Fund Pre-investment Studies for Bi-Oceanic Railway Corridor

With the aim of financing technical pre-investment and logistics studies for the development of the future Bi-Oceanic Railway Integration Corridor (CBFI) in Bolivia and promote local integration, CAF—development bank of Latin America—and the Plurinational State of Bolivia signed today an agreement to allocate non-reimbursable CAF funds for up to USD 3 million.

The agreement signed between CAF President Luis Carranza and Bolivia’s Minister of Public Works Oscar Coca, and Minister of Development Planning, Mariana Prado, is part of the recent bio-oceanic railway project, which seeks to connect the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, integrating countries such as Brazil, Bolivia and Peru.

“This financial assistance by CAF will not only enable Bolivia to complete its internal railway interconnection network, thereby improving logistics of domestic exports, but will also help develop the integration project that will turn Bolivia into a hub between the two oceans,” Carranza explained.

Thus, CAF finances specialized operations that improve the technical capacity of its shareholder countries, in order to promote innovative programs that contribute to sustainable development and regional integration.

The agreement signed in La Paz involves engineering design studies for two priority sub-sections of Bolivia’s railway interconnection network, the Bulo Bulo-Ivirgarzama-Villa Tunari section, which involves updating the route and technical parameters proposed in the existing basic design study.

The document also provides for a technical and regulatory, comparative and standardization analysis for the interoperability of the railway networks between Bolivia, Brazil and Peru that are part of the project. It also calls for the application and monitoring of the CAF methodology of analysis of Logistics Integration Corridors (LICs) to identify and devise complementary projects that improve its functionality.

“The challenge is to achieve greater regional integration infrastructure to reduce logistical costs and foster productive complementarity among countries of the region. This should be achieved together with trade and creation of social and political dynamics that can translate into economic well-being and prosperity in our nations,” said CAF executive president.

Non-reimbursable funds to be disbursed over the next two years will also be earmarked for institutional strengthening actions for Bolivia’s Ministry of Public Works and its technical bodies, including specialized advice to prepare the terms of reference (ToR) and supervision of studies and procurement.