1959-1971: Strengthening the links with Europe
When the Inter-American Development Bank was established in 1959 it received a bold mandate to support not only economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, something other multilateral organizations were already doing at the time, but also social and institutional development, the private sector, trade and regional integration.
Today, the IDB is the oldest and largest regional multilateral development bank and the main source of development funding for Latin America and the Caribbean, especially for the region’s smaller economies.
The IDB was a hemispheric answer to a long-standing aspiration of the Latin American countries to have a development institution dedicated to their particular needs. During its first decade and a half of work, it was a partnership between Latin America and the United States. From its inception, nevertheless, the IDB sought to strengthen links between Latin America, Europe and Israel. The Bank’s first president, Felipe Herrera (1959-1971), appointed a Special Representative to Europe in 1961. The following year, he opened a Special Office in Europe, in Paris, to help mobilize European resources for Latin American development and to enhance mutual knowledge. The IDB soon issued bonds on European markets and incorporated other mechanisms, such as cofinancing and trust funds that the European countries put under IDB administration, to support development programs in Latin America. The institution’s first bond issue was launched in Italy, in 1962, for 15 billion lire.
1976-2006: 30-years of European Membership
Under the Bank’s second president, Antonio Ortiz Mena (1971-1988), great achievements took place, such as the expansion of shareholders to include Canada, Japan, Israel and many European countries. In 1974, the Declaration of Madrid defined the terms for the entry of the European countries into the Bank. Between 1976 and 1977, membership was extended to 13 European countries - Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Yugoslavia - as well as Israel and Japan. Portugal joined in 1980, and Norway in 1986. After Yugoslavia ceased to be a member in 1993, Croatia and Slovenia joined the Bank as successor states. In 2004, the Republic of Korea became the IDB’s 47th member country, and its second Asian member.
