Two loans granted to Ecuador for infrastructure and integration works

Two loans for a total of US$108.2 million were today granted to Ecuador to partially finance the City of Guayaquil Road Program and the rectification project for the International Pan-American Highway, in the Ambato bypass, both of great importance for reconditioning the country’s road infrastructure, expanding the economic space and raising the standard of living.

The agreements were signed today in CAF headquarters in Caracas in the presence of the Ecuadorian ambassador in Venezuela, Alfonso Barrera, and CAF President & CEO Enrique García, who said the Corporation had been supporting physical infrastructure projects because they benefit productive and commercial activities, generate the competitiveness required by the process of globalization of economies, and promote sustainable development and integration of peoples by improving communications.

He added that environmental and social variables are considered in the evaluation process of all projects that CAF promotes to guarantee their sustainability over the long term. “This is very important in infrastructure projects because they usually have a greater impact on the environment, which is why we carry out a very careful evaluation to include actions to mitigate these impacts.”

CAF is an international financial institution which supports the sustainable development of its shareholder countries and regional integration, formed by the five countries of the Andean Community: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, together with Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Jamaica, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The projects The first loan for US$70 million will finance the first stage of the City of Guayaquil Road Program which consists of expansion, extension, construction and reconstruction of four roads in the city whose urban growth has generated the need to redistribute traffic flows.

The second loan for US$38.2 million is for a project to rectify the International Pan-American Highway in the Ambato bypass, which will facilitate the link between the north and south outlying areas of the city, capital of Tungurahua province.

Rectification of this important artery will relieve passenger and cargo transport, and includes a highly integrationist element because the works will improve the flow of international traffic from Ecuador to Colombia and Peru.

The Pan-American Highway crosses Ecuador from north to south linking cities, towns and production centers in the inter-Andean area and in the coastal and eastern regions.