NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC—Ilan Goldfajn, President of the Inter-American Growth Financial institution (IDB), says the Washington-based monetary establishment has been a steadfast companion for the Caribbean for over half a century.
“Our consultations with Caribbean governors forward of our annual conferences in Chile supplied a possibility to debate how our regional initiatives like ONE Caribbean can increase progress and resilience, and extra usually, how our IDBImpact+ reforms can ship extra scale and influence for our membership as a complete,” he stated on the finish of the two-day XIII Annual Session with the governors of IDB Caribbean member nations on Monday.
The assembly right here was a part of preparations for the IDB and IDB Make investments annual conferences, which is able to happen in Chile from March 26 to 30.
Representatives from the Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago attended the assembly.
Goldfajn informed the closing ceremony that the previous few years have examined the resilience of nations throughout the area and praised The Bahamas for displaying “extraordinary dedication.
“What is especially commendable is The Bahamas’ dedication to reforms that lay the groundwork for long-term sustainability and progress. These embody fiscal consolidation that has diminished financing wants, and complete power and resilience reforms.”
He stated the IDB’s focus in Nassau has opened area for important investments to handle key challenges.
“We’re serving to The Bahamas broaden climate-resilient infrastructure by supporting the growth of water programs by a US$100 million credit score line, boosting the capability and local weather resilience of 4 airports with a US$35 million undertaking, and rising using photo voltaic power by a 9 million US greenback grant.”
Goldfajn stated the IDB helps the Preparedness, Restoration, and Reconstruction Nation Group (P2RCT), created after Hurricane Dorian to make the federal government extra responsive in catastrophe conditions.
“We participated on this yr’s groundbreaking debt-for-climate resilience operation, which is able to allocate almost US$124 million to marine conservation initiatives. And IDB Make investments, our private-sector arm, is offering US$10 million to enhance liquidity for SMEs nationwide.”
He stated regional economies have been among the many finest performing within the Caribbean and are anticipated to develop quicker than the general Latin America and Caribbean area. Nonetheless, he acknowledged that in addition they face crucial structural challenges.
“First, the Caribbean is without doubt one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable areas. Second, violent crime continues to undermine the standard of life and gradual financial progress. Third, restricted funding slows productiveness and limits the growth of the personal sector.”
He additionally stated the Caribbean’s dependence on imported meals leaves the area topic to cost shocks that may make meals unaffordable.
“But, inside these challenges lie tales of success. Barbados is now a acknowledged world chief in local weather motion, with a holistic local weather change response technique embodied within the Roofs to Reefs Programme”.
Goldfajn stated Jamaica has been a mannequin of fiscal self-discipline and profitable debt administration whereas additionally making important advances in sustainable agriculture and tourism. On the similar time, Trinidad and Tobago’s Nationwide power coverage has demonstrated how governments increase renewable power use whereas encouraging power effectivity.
The IDB president stated the financial institution is proud to companion with the area’s success tales, noting that final yr, it authorized US$790 million in new initiatives and packages, “and our pipeline for 2025 consists of over US$1.1 billion to help infrastructure resilience, expertise coaching, and entry to credit score for small corporations, amongst many different issues.
“And the debt-for-marine-conservation swap within the Bahamas was not the one one. We labored with Barbados on an operation that generated US$125 million in fiscal financial savings, which shall be channeled into new resilience investments.”
He stated that IDB is engaged on a bioeconomy undertaking with Suriname that can present rural Amazon villages with renewable power, potable water provide, and telecommunication programs.
Goldfajn stated IDB Make investments helps Caribbean corporations advance the power transition by the Caribbean Internet-Zero and Resilient Personal Sector Program with $120 million in financing and technical help.
He stated the IDB Lab, the financial institution’s innovation lab and enterprise capital wing, will make investments US$750,000 to help the Caribbean’s first health-innovation accelerator and incubator, serving to strengthen regional well being innovation.
The IDB president stated, trying head, that the financial institution needs to do extra to attain its three core aims of lowering poverty, tackling local weather change, and boosting sustainable progress within the Caribbean and all through Latin America.
“That’s why we’re finishing up the IDBImpact+ reforms, which is able to safe extra sources to boost the influence and scale of our work. They’ll assist broaden our lending capability to US$19 billion by 2030, unlocking US50 billion over the subsequent decade.”
Goldfajn stated that to make sure these sources ship significant change, the IDB is implementing a brand new influence framework anchored in a mission scorecard with clear, evidence-based metrics.
“We’re additionally upgrading our monetary instruments, resembling policy-based loans and funding lending, to assist nations mobilize personal sources and ship high-impact initiatives.
“Enhanced regional packages, like ONE Caribbean, will tackle cross-border challenges with built-in, scalable options. In the meantime, IDB Make investments and IDB Lab reforms will mobilize personal capital, foster entrepreneurship, and broaden innovation to handle growth challenges.
“In whole, we’re bringing to our annual conferences in Santiago in Chile 11 reforms and initiatives as we put together to extend the size and influence of our work, making IDBimpact+ a actuality.”
Goldfajn stated Caribbean nations have performed important work to stabilize their economies and at the moment are well-positioned to advance on crucial points resembling sustainable progress, local weather change, productiveness progress, and citizen safety.
“The IDB has been and can proceed to be your companion on this endeavor. Via ONE Caribbean, we now even have a coordinated regional method to handle widespread challenges,” he added.
