Transcript
WELCOME TO BELO HORIZONTE
With the theme “Open Doors to Development,” the 47th Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Development Bank also opened its doors to a record number of participants and journalists in Belo Horizonte, capital of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.
In this, the geographic heart of South America, more than 12,000 participants will attend the previous seminars and the meeting’s formal events, which have attracted some 600 journalists from throughout the region and other parts of the world.
Immediately after his arrival at Belo Horizonte’s airport, IADB’s new President Luis Alberto Moreno, said that his trip to the Brazilian city constitutes his latest stop-over to fulfill his promise to maintain a more personal, direct relationship with the bank’s members.
“I have been traveling to all our countries. I have been listening to them all these months that I have been leading the bank. And I am very happy to be here in Belo Horizonte for my first annual meeting. And we hope to work very closely with all countries in order to adjust the bank’s activities according to the interests.”
The meeting’s venue, the Expominas Convention Center, was completed just in time for the opening of the event, which took place yesterday afternoon led by President Moreno and several Brazilian dignitaries.
Among them were Minister of Planning Paulo Bernardo da Silva; Minas Gerais Governor Aecio Neves, and Belo Horizonte Mayor Fernando Pimentel.
Expominas is the region’s most modern convention center and the third largest in Latin America, with a total of 72,000 square meters.
And although the formal meeting starts on Monday and concludes on Wednesday, this monumental facility is already housing several seminars about subjects such as youth development, remittances and microfinances, financing for clean energy, and technology, innovation and competitiveness.
In a joint press conference, Moreno celebrated the close relationship between the bank and Brazil, a founding member and the one country that first suggested to establish a regional development bank.
“There are many projects that the bank is conducting in Brazil, including some of technology sharing here in Minas Gerais. And I can tell you our experience working here in Brazil has been very successful and I expect this relationship to continue for many years.”
Moreno’s press briefing partner, Minister of Planning da Silva answered the press’s concerns about the difficulties the poorest sections of the population face in order to receive IADB’s funds.
“Our municipalities have many options in order to obtain financing for infrastructure projects and otherwise. The Pro-Cidade Program is not the only one but just another alternative. The federal government’s position has been to construct a successful model to give loans to local communities.”
A lot of activity lies ahead of these seven days in Belo Horizonte.
And the door is now open to a great variety of points of view and solutions to the region’s problems.
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