Jamaica agrees to enter CAF capital

In an event which contributes to developing even closer economic and commercial cooperation between CAF and the Caribbean Community (Caricom), Jamaica agreed last Friday to subscribe to the capital stock of this international financial institution.

In one of a series of activities to expand institutional and commercial ties with Caribbean nations, CAF President & CEO Enrique García today attended as special guest the opening of the 18th CARICOM Conference of Heads of State and Government in the city of Montego Bay, Jamaica.

On June 26, CAF participated in an event organized by the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce in the Jamaican capital, where he said the private sector was very important in the Association of Caribbean States (ACE) as a factor which contributes to the objective of its transformation into a group with more weight in defining economic policies for the subregion.

Looking toward the Caribbean Looking to the future and as part of a strategy of expanding its operating base, CAF has been developing closer relations with the Caribbean area since the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) on May 9, 1991.

Since then, contacts have intensified with the signing in September 1992 of a first line of credit agreement with Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago Limited, and by extension with its Caribbean subsidiary Caribbean Banking Corporation (CBC) for US$12 million.

As part of this policy of expanding ties with the Caribbean financial community, in February 1993 CAF granted a second line of credit for US$5 million to the Central Bank of Barbados, and later, in December that year, signed in Port of Spain another line of credit agreement for US$10 million with the state-owned Trinidad and Tobago Oil Company (TRINTOC/PETROFIN) for acquisition of raw materials and services.

The Corporation has also made available to financial institutions in Mexico, Chile, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, St Vincent and Grenadines, Jamaica and Barbados, a series of lines of credit to finance foreign trade operations between these countries and the Andean nations.

As part of this process of closer relations with the Caribbean, in June 1994 Trinidad and Tobago joined CAF, and in April 1996 CAF President & CEO Enrique García and Caricom Secretary General Edwin Carrington signed a cooperation agreement to facilitate trade and investment flows between the member countries of the two organizations, especially at private sector level.