Ecuadorian Minister to chair CAF board for one year term

(March, 1992).- During the 73rd meeting of the CAF Board now being held in Caracas, Ecuadorian Minister of Industry, Commerce, Integration and Fisheries Juan Falconi was appointed to chair the Board for the March 1992 to 1993 term.

Under the CAF Establishing Agreement, the position rotates annually between the member countries of the Andean Group in alphabetical order.

CAF, financial institution of the Andean Group, is holding its Board and Shareholders meetings on the 23rd, 24th and 25th of this month.

In the meetings, the management report for 1991 and distribution of net income will be submitted for consideration by the directors and later approval. The proposed budget will also be presented together with the action plan for 1992.

The Board will consider three important loans. The first is for the Methanol II project in the Venezuelan petrochemical sector, which has high priority in Venezuela. The purpose is to build a chemical plant to produce 670,000 metric tons a year of methanol from natural gas, a very abundant raw material in the country. If approved, this will be the largest loan that CAF has granted to a private sector company (US$47 million).

The second project is expansion of the Ballenas-Cartagena gas pipeline. The borrower is Promotora de la Interconexión de los Gasoductos de la Costa Atlántica (PROMIGAS, SA), the largest gas transport company in Colombia.

Lastly, a loan for US$20 million will be considered for the company Empresa Minera Inti Raymi SA of Bolivia, to expand open cast mining of gold and silver by means of installation of a processing plant for these minerals. The Kori Kollo mine is located near the city of Oruro.

Other matters to be considered include increasing two lines of credit granted by CAF to Banco de Comercio Exterior of Colombia and to the Peruvian government for the mining sector.