The French Development Agency (Agence Française de Développement – AFD) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have committed to strengthen their cooperation in order to support strategic development projects in Latin American and Caribbean countries, where they can operate jointly .

As per the new Memorandum of Understanding, which they signed in the context of EU-LAC Forum, held 6th of October 2008 in Paris, IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno and AFD Chief Executive Officer Jean-Michel Severino decided to further engage both Institutions in joining their efforts to scale-up projects and initiatives for development throughout the region.

In this regard, they reasserted their commitment to have IDB and AFD proceeding on a systematic and regular basis to the reviewing of their respective portfolios of operations in Latin American and Caribbean countries, where they can operate jointly, with the clear objective to identify more windows for joint studies, missions and cofinancing.

Through the deepening of their cooperation, the Agency and the Bank are willing to facilitate and contribute to the implementation of priority areas, such as Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Initiative; Clean-Energy; Infrastructure; Subnational Government Financing and Capacity Building.

Last year, PROPARCO –Private Sector financing and investment entity of the AFD Group- and the Inter-American Investment Corporation agreed to develop their co-operation and signed another agreement.

In terms of co-operations, IDB and AFD have co-financed succesfully various important projects in recent years in countries such as Suriname for community development projects and Haiti in the water and sanitation sector or urban development. Furthermore, exchanges and collaborations in the ground have always been very fluid and result-oriented

In addition, both institutions are in advanced discussions for co-financing and parallel financing of several other pipelined projects, particularly in Brazil, and Suriname (Paramaribo-Albina road rehabilitation project.)

Last year, AFD has extended its operations to new emerging countries (among which Brazil) as part of its mandate to protect global public goods (e.g. combatting climate change and pandemics, protecting biodiversity). In 2007, AFD’s total commitments in emerging countries was €224.1 million. More globally, AFD committed over €3.5 billion in 2007 to more than 60 developing countries in Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East, South America and the Caribbean, and the French Overseas Territories.
The Inter-American Development Bank Group approved $9.6 billion in financing for projects in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2007. The total includes $9 billion for 111 loans and 16 credit guarantees from the Bank; $470 million for the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), the IDB affiliate specialized in small and medium-sized enterprises; and $135 million in financing from the IDB-administered Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF). The IDB also approved $167.8 million in grants for technical cooperation projects in 2007.

Through this agreement, the inter-institutional cooperation is explicitly in line with the spirit of the Paris Declaration on Development Effectiveness and Aid Harmonization.
The Agence Française de Développement, AFD is the Groupe Agence Française de Développement, a bi-lateral development finance institution established in 1941 that works on behalf of the French government. Its mission is to finance development according to France’s Overseas Development Assistance policies. AFD’s activities are aimed at reducing poverty and inequalities, promoting sustainable economic growth, and protecting “Global Public Goods” of benefit to all humanity.
The Inter-American Development Bank. The Inter-American Development Bank, the oldest and largest regional development bank in the world, is the main source of multilateral financing for economic, social and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its loans and grants help finance development projects and support strategies to reduce poverty, expand growth, increase trade and investment, promote regional integration, and foster private sector development and modernization of the State.

Press contacts:

AFD:

Laure Weisgerber
weisgerberl@afd.fr
+ 33 1 53 44 30 57
www.afd.fr

IDB:

Patricia Rojas
patriciaro@iadb.org
+1 202 623-1373
Carlos M. Jarque,
IDBEurope@iadb.org
Tel: +33 1 40693102
www.iadb.org