Panamá and CAF agree on the start of a pilot plan for the institutional strengthening of Chiriquí

The President of the Republic of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela, was a witness of honor in the signing of the technical cooperation agreement between Enrique García, Executive President of CAF, Development Bank of Latin America; Dulcidio de la Guardia, Minister of Economy and Finance; and Álvaro Alemán, Minister of the Presidency. The cooperation agreement is to start the pilot plan for the institutional strengthening of the municipalities of Barú and David, and strengthening of the local capacities facing the new municipality of Tierras Altas, in the province of Chiriquí.

During the signing ceremony, President Varela highlighted CAF's role for its contribution to social peace and support to governments by means of technical advice and providing resources to solve the problems that affect the population of the region. "The mandate of the multilateral bank, to identify and increase the technical institutional strength of the public officials, to be able to execute and implement a vision and execution of public policies that lasts beyond governmental periods, is one of CAF's strengths". 

The President also reiterated his commitment with decentralization, and stated that the government will continue to make efforts to provide municipalities with the institutional capacities that enable them to efficiently develop community works and projects that are needed at a national level. 

In this respect, the President thanked Enrique García and Susana Pinilla, CAF's Director Representative in Panama, who have energized and strengthened relations between the Republic of Panama and CAF, as well as for their participation in the decentralization process, "which fills us with trust and optimism, as we know that the organization that you represent has great experience at a regional level regarding governance, citizen participation, and public management that we need to transfer to our local governments".  

At the same time, CAF's Executive President ratified his commitment with the country, by supporting priority initiatives for Panamanian development. "Projects such as this, through decentralization, enable local governments to have more adequate tools for decion making in favor of their communities, with the purpose of improving the quality of life of its inhabitants. 

Diverse activities are expected to help achieve a diagnosis of the institutional capacities and needs that exist in Panamanian municipalities, in addtion to a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities of the local governments facing decentralization processes and schemes of competencies that are exclusive, concurrent, and delegated to each level of government, among others. 

The parties agree that Chiriquí offers a pertinent scenario to carry out a pilot project to develop an institutional strengthening model that is scalable and transferable to most local governments in the country.  

CAF has accumulated experience in the area of institutional strengthening at a local level thanks to its regional Program for the Update and Improvement of Local Management (PRAMEG, for its acronym in Spanish), whose objective was to promote more efficient municipal organizations. At the same time, CAF has knowledge and presence in the region as a result of the actions that it carries out in an agreement with the Centro de Competitividad de la Región Occidental (CECOMRO) (Competitiveness Center of the Western Region), to provide future support to other regions in Panama.