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Today's NewsApril 4, 2008
The Inter-American Development Bank opens today the series of seminars ahead of the annual meeting of its Board of Governors, with a stellar cast of CEOs, artists, and experts on issues as varied as philanthropic capitalism, youth leadership, infrastructure financing and catastrophe bonds. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and the president of the IDB, Luis Alberto Moreno, will engage in a public discussion about the increasingly influential role of philanthropic organizations in promoting innovations in development, as part of a seminar on partnerships and public-private collaboration. Alliances against poverty will also be the theme of an event featuring top Latin American artists Juanes, Juan Luis Guerra and Ricky Martin. The musicians, who head their own foundations, will join an IDB-led campaign, Yo Amo América, to promote access to microcredit, early childhood education and civil registration in Latin America. Latin America’s recent economic performance – and the potential impact on the region of the “subprime” crisis – will be under scrutiny at a seminar organized by the IDB’s Research Department, which will feature presentations by Federal Reserve Governor Randall Kroszner and IDB Vice President Santiago Levy. Another challenge for Latin America and the Caribbean is bridging the infrastructure gap that prevents the region from becoming more competitive. Public and private sector leaders will discuss the opportunities arising from major projects such as the expansion of the Panama Canal, which will be addressed by its CEO, Alberto Aleman. The last seminar of the day will focus on a persistent problem facing this region: its vulnerability to natural disasters, which can be magnified by the effects of climate change. Policymakers and technical experts will discuss what can be done to manage such risks and lessons learned from tragic experiences. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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