Spain and CAF Renew Agreement to Promote Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

The Kingdom of Spain, represented by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, and CAF—development bank of Latin America—, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with which they seek to strengthen collaboration in development cooperation and catalyze additional funds that allow institutions to maximize the impact of their operations, generating greater value to the countries of the region.

This agreement will be articulated in Spain of through the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), and will promote joint initiatives that contribute to supporting sustainable development and the ecological transition of Latin America and the Caribbean and will be key in the implementation of the ambitious objectives that Spain and CAF have set in terms of climate financing, which aspires to become the Green Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, in line with its commitment to achieve record levels of climate finance. To this end, under the agreement signed today, access to additional funds will be facilitated in the form of co-financing and donations to operations and initiatives that integrate climate and development objectives into strategic sectors such as water and sanitation, digitalization for development, environment, renewable energies, and sustainable urban transformation.

The agreement signed by Gonzalo García Andrés, Secretary of Economy and Business Support and Pilar Cancela Rodríguez, Secretary of State for International Cooperation for the Kingdom of Spain and Sergio Díaz-Granados, executive president of CAF, comes at a historic moment in which the countries of the region are looking for sustainable ways to recover after the economic and social impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

CAF executive president Sergio Díaz-Granados noted: “Strategic alliances are key to achieving local and global goals such as those set forth in the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This agreement with the Kingdom of Spain strengthens our role as a development partner by helping us catalyze additional funds that promote high-impact initiatives and place countries of Latin America and the Caribbean back on the path to sustainable and inclusive development.”

At the signing ceremony, Gonzalo García Andrés said: “This agreement will help us identify and promote investment opportunities in sectors of common interest that foster a sustainable and inclusive economic recovery, and that underpin the fight against climate change. The region has great potential for the future, and also faces significant challenges. The agreement signed confirms Spain’s commitment to Latin America, through multilateral organizations such as CAF.”

In her speech, Pilar Cancela Rodríguez highlighted “the important turn taken by the close collaborative relationship with CAF through this new-generation agreement, which lays the foundations for future co-financing of initiatives of common interest, with a focus on the recovery of the region after the pandemic and on the urgent climate financing.”