Financing for development studies for Paraguay-Paraná Waterway

To support the development of the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway, the Andean Development Corporation (CAF) today approved a contingent technical cooperation for US$885,000 to finance studies prior to the execution of the dredging and buoyage works.

CAF executive president Enrique García said this operation comes under the agreement signed by the multinational lender, the IDB and Fonplata with representatives of the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway in December 2000, which gives priority to the execution of the physical works of the project.

The Waterway forms the core of a river transport program along the Paraguay-Paraná water system, in the existing section between Puerto Cáceres in Brazil and Puerto Nueva Palmira in Uruguay, García said. The works, for which the CAF today approved financing for development studies, are designed to guarantee 24-hour navigation by convoys of barges and a push tug, which will carry large-volume shipments of the region´s products at the lowest possible cost. Because of its geographical characteristics, the Waterway forms part of the Orinoco-Amazon-Plate River Corridor, which is one of the most important connections in the South American region.

The Waterway project is intended to cut transport costs and improve the competitiveness of regional products on the world market, making possible the generation of new industrial poles around the port terminals.

The improvement of the navigable routes and the port terminals is also expected to create a new balance among the river communities, generating new areas of economic development and of the river system itself, with a view to improving the quality of life of the inhabitants through the sustainable exploitation of the region´s natural resources.