US$30.5 million granted for development of projects in Venezuela

Three operations, in favor of transport, drinking water and social sectors of Venezuela, for a total of US$30.5 million were signed today with the representatives of the beneficiary institutions.

CAF - financial institution formed by Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela – provides trade, investment and development banking services. With assets over US$2.25 billion, the Corporation has among its shareholders Mexico, Chile, Trinidad and Tobago and 22 private banks from the region, which will be joined in the near future by Brazil.

First, a US$30 million loan with a ten-year term was granted to FONTUR to finance the National Urban Transport Program. The loan will finance a global plan for multiple works structured into basic components: investment and institutional strengthening, with Caracas, Maracay, Valencia, San Cristobal, and Barcelona-Puerto La Cruz as some of the cities which will benefit from this program.

The agreement was signed in the presence of the Minister of Transport and Communications Ciro Zaa; executive director of FONTUR Pedro Briceño; and CAF President & CEO Enrique García, who said the operation was "one more example of the institution’s unrestricted financial backing for member countries, in line with our mission to permanently support sustainable development in the region, especially in the area of infrastructure, without neglecting other vital aspects such as the social area."

The investment sub-program includes local plans for works to improve the infrastructure and level of urban transport services, while the institutional strengthening program will support the work of FONTUR, and the Ministry Traffic Department with the municipalities and the passenger transport service operators.

MODERNIZATION OF DRINKING WATER SERVICES A technical cooperation operation was granted for US$250,000 to CA Hidrológica Venezolana (HIDROVEN) as support for the Modernization and Restructuring Process of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Sector in the states of Merida, Trujillo and Barinas by HIDROANDES, in Lara by HIDROLARA, and the Caracas Metropolitan Waterworks by HYDROCAPITAL,

The restructuring of the drinking water and sanitation sector in Venezuela required the creation of HIDROVEN and it is ten regional water companies. Their functions include coordination of the administrative, technical and legal procedures for the restructuring process, supervision and evaluation of management of the waterworks utilities with a view to achieving financial independence, promotion of transfer of the service to regional bodies, provision of technical assistance, training programs and help with obtaining funds from international organizations for investment in the sector.

The national government, through HIDROVEN, has prepared a Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Adjustment Program in the financial, institutional and technical areas, with the central strategy of deepening decentralization of the service to local level. The funds granted will fund pre-investment studies and the contracting of Project Preparation Units.

SOCIAL SECTOR: FE Y ALEGRÍA Financial support of US$177,900 was granted to the Civil Association Fe y Alegría of Venezuela. The funds will be used to design a model of institutional evaluation and integrated information system in order to optimize management of this important non-governmental organization in the education sector.

Fe y Alegría operates over 150 schools, six radio stations, eight camps, 26 religious communities, 4,788 professionals in education and lay teaching, and over 170,000 persons served, including students in formal education. In addition to the quality of the service provided to populations with priority needs, the size of its student registration is equivalent to the education system of any Venezuelan state.

The CAF technical cooperation funds will be used to evaluate the impact of social intervention programs on the target population in order to improve the efficient allocation of resources and the effectiveness of the system. The programmed activities include the design of an integrated information system to be validated at each management level of the organization, preparation of an information and continuous training program for staff and directive teams, and creation of a Management Control Unit to permanently evaluate the institutional strengthening processes.