February 12, 2002

IDB TO HOLD ANNUAL MEETING IN FORTALEZA, BRAZIL, MARCH 11-13

Board of Governors to review Annual Report, discuss new challenges

The Inter-American Development Bank will hold its 43rd Annual Meeting in Fortaleza, Brazil, March 11-13 to review the Bank’s Annual Report and to discuss new policies and initiatives in the light of recent challenges to economic and social development to Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Inter-American Investment Corporation, a member of the IDB Group that supports small and medium-sized businesses with loans and investments, will hold its 17th Annual Meeting concurrently with that of the IDB.

Several seminars, beginning on March 7, and other activities associated with the Annual Meeting will emphasize the social mission of the Bank. Since 1994 the Bank has dedicated more than 40 percent of its lending resources and 50 percent of its projects to social investments, such as health, education and poverty reduction.

In response to the economic stress of the region, the IDB approved $7.9 billion in loans to the region during 2001, the third highest level in the Bank’s history and a record amount for its regular lending program.

The IDB’s Board of Governors constitutes the institution’s top policymaking body. Its members hold the rank of finance ministers, economy ministers, or central bank presidents.

Of special attention during the Annual Meeting will be a proposal of the Committee of the Board of Governors to set lending at $26 billion for the 2002-2004 period, including special credit lines to support borrowing member countries facing emergencies or critical situations.

The plenary sessions of the IDB Annual Meeting will be preceded by 12 official seminars as well as numerous other activities that will attract thousands of officials from the public and private sectors, special guests and journalists, as well as the official delegations of the Bank’s 46 member countries.

The governors will examine ways to assist the region in recovering from the effects of the world economic slowdown, and senior officials from Argentina and other experts will review the crisis in that country on March 10 in a seminar titled "Argentina: Perspectives and Lessons for Latin America."

Brazil has an historic close association with the IDB. The origin of the IDB has been traced to the Inter-American Economic Conference that took place at the Quitandinha Hotel, in Petrópolis in 1954, as well as to initiatives of President Juscelino Kubitschek in 1958.

Two previous IDB Annual Meetings have been held in Brazil — both in Rio de Janeiro - in 1961 and 1980. Brazil is the largest IDB borrower. The 290 loans the Bank approved for the country as of Dec. 31, 2001, totaled $23.4 billion, benefiting industry, infrastructure, modernization of the state, health and sanitation, science and technology, tourism, and social investment.

Much attention during the Annual Meeting will be focused on the Northeast of Brazil, a region rich in history and cultural heritage but lagging in terms of per capita income. The Brazilian government, supported by the IDB, has been encouraging the diversification of the economy of the Northeast, where tourism is becoming increasingly important and will be the topic of a seminar.

Registration for the Annual Meeting will begin on Wednesday, March 6, at the Ceará Convention Center, and the inaugural session of the Board of Governors will be held Monday, March 11, at the SEBRAE Auditorium. All other official meetings and seminars will be held at the Ceará Convention Center.

IDB broadcast coverage via satellite transmission and webcast will include highlights of the inaugural session on March 11, four key seminars, and loan signing ceremonies, as well as press conferences, special events and other activities.

Satellite transmissions begin on March 8 and will include raw footage and packaged reports on the IDB’s response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the following topics: "Young Leaders in the 21st Century," "HIV/AIDS and Development," and "Sustainable Tourism Development." The transmission schedule will be available soon.

The IDB’s on-site production crew will also be available to provide customized feeds to news organizations. Daily streaming video highlights will be posted on the IDB Website at www.iadb.org

The Annual Meeting Website may be visited at http://www.iadb.org/exr/am/2002/

A seminar on fighting AIDS/HIV, in which Brazil has made considerable progress, will be held Friday, March 8, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Other seminars will be held as follows:

• "Youth Leadership in the 21st Century," 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., March 7.
• "Development of Rural Economies in Latin America and the Caribbean: Sustainable management of Natural Resources, Land Access and Rural Finance," 9:00 a.m. to 6 p.m., March 7.
• "Strategic Issues of Water Use and Management in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Action Agenda," 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., March 7.
• "Higher Education and Science and Technology in Latin America and the Caribbean: Responding to Expansion and Diversification," 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., March 8.
• "Latin America’s Venture Capital Industry: The Invisible Partner," 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., March 10.
• "Sustainable Tourism Development," 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., March 9.
• "Physical and Regional Integration: The Puebla-Panama/South America Plan," 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., March 9.
• "Reforming Reform," 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., March 9.
• "Argentina: Perspectives and Lessons for Latin America," 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., March 10.
• "Looking Beyond Our Borders: Opportunities and Challenges for the New Regionalism," 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., March 11.
• "Social and Environmental Dialogue: Learning from Brazil’s Environmental Councils," 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., March 11, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 12.

The IDB was created in 1959 to help accelerate the economic and social development of Latin America and the Caribbean. For the past eight years the Bank has been the leading source of development financing to the region.

As of Dec. 31, 2001, the IDB has approved about $110.5 billion in loans and guarantees supporting projects with a total cost of more than $273 billion.

The Bank’s headquarters is located in Washington, D.C. The institution has offices in all its 26 borrowing country members, as well as an office in Paris for European affairs and an office in Tokyo.