What is the IIRSA Initiative?

The Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA) is a response based on consensus to the challenges of effective integration and the growing infrastructure needs in South America, which started in 2000 and with a ten-year operative horizon for its first stage. The IIRSA has been established as a forum for coordination of intergovernmental actions, with the aim of promoting the development of transportation, energy and communications infrastructure to strengthen the physical integration of the 12 South American countries, under a standard of equitable and sustainable territorial development.

2010 is a special year for the IIRSA because the ten-year horizon set by the South American presidents in 2000 comes to an end. It is now two years since the IIRSA Initiative started a discussion process regarding its future within the context of the creation of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR, in Spanish). During 2009, the countries were working on the convergence of the two initiatives. In August 2009, the Council of Infrastructure and Planning Ministers was created within the framework of the UNASUR. In 2010, the way this Council will work and the way the merger will take place will be discussed in relation to the way the IIRSA operates. Also, during this year, the IIRSA transition will be included for the new institutional architecture: UNASUR/IIRSA and the first stage of the Initiative will be completed.

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Which is the IDB’s support to the process of physical integration within the framework of the IIRSA?

The IDB, member of the Technical Coordination Committee of the IIRSA (CCT, in Spanish), has supported the IIRSA Initiative since its creation in 2000 through several financial and non-financial instruments, which include loans, donations, guarantees, and technical support. This support is part of the Bank’s commitment to the integration process in the Americas, a process the bank has supported since the signing of its Charter in 1959 and was strengthened with the creation of the Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean (INTAL, in Spanish). The INTAL is the permanent secretariat of the CCT of the IIRSA. Read more>>