Annual Meeting 2003- Today's News

Lucio Stanca (left), minister of innovation and technologies of Italy, and Enrique Iglesias, president of the IDB, exchanged contratulations after signing aTrust Fund for Information and Communication Technology. The fund, which will consist of 3 million Euros, will support IDB technical cooperation projects that promote the use of information and communication technology and electronic government in social development, poverty reduction and transparency programs in Latin America and the Caribbean. (Photo by Wilie Heinz)

MILAN, Italy-Activities at the IDB Annual Meeting today were marked by five seminars that brought together senior officials and technical experts to discuss priority issues for economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The seminar "E-governance: Towards A New Approach to International Cooperation in the Knowledge Economy," examined current issues at the local and national levels and their application to regional and international cooperation. Speakers provided examples of uses to which information and communication technology is being put in Latin America and the Caribbean to make public administration more open and transparent.

In his opening address, IDB President Enrique V. Iglesias described the Bank's growing partnership with its Latin American and Caribbean member countries to put information technology both to the service of economic and social development as well as to strengthen the democratic institutions.

"The countries have expressed their interest in establishing a rapidly growing knowledge economy to promote efficient, equitable and sustainable development," said Iglesias. "The role of the IDB is to assist them in creating concrete projects to achieve their objectives.

Also speaking was Lucio Stanca, minister of innovation and technologies of Italy, who emphasized that e-government can meet its goals only when it has the support of three components: the backing of public officials, technical and managerial capacity, and political support. Only when these three elements intersect, he said, does e-government achieve its potential for creating public value.

In conjunction with the seminar, an agreement between the IDB and Italy was signed to create the "Italian Trust Fund for Information and Communication Technology for Development." The 3-million Euro trust fund will support IDB technical cooperation projects in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Support for small business

A second seminar reviewed ways of realizing the potential of small businesses to create new jobs, add value, and increase productivity in environments where economic opportunities are otherwise limited.

"Microenterprises and small and medium-size businesses are the best antidote to poverty," Iglesias said at the opening of the seminar "Financing Private Sector Development: An Integral Approach."

As the leading source of multilateral lending for development in Latin America and the Caribbean, the IDB has provided more than $14 billion over the past decade to promote the development of these segments of the private sector, which account for two-thirds of all the jobs in the region and generate nearly half of its overall output.

In his speech, Bruno Ermolli, president of the Milan Chamber of Commerce agency PROMOS proposed the creation of a Milan-based Italian Agency for Latin America that would combine the efforts of this country's public and private sectors in order to strengthen economic development ties with Latin America.

One of the new agency's programs, he added, could be to provide on-the-job training for Latin American entrepreneurs and managers by placing them for short periods in small and medium-size firms in the Lombard Region.

The seminar also looked at another critical issue for the development of micro, small and medium-size enterprises: providing these firms with greater access to financing, which is frequently identified as the single biggest obstacle facing Latin American and Caribbean entrepreneurs.

In his speech, Iglesias listed a series of persistent problems that prevent most countries in the region from creating the right conditions for small firms to obtain credit. Among the hurdles he mentioned the weakness of domestic financial systems, the red tape that pushes entrepreneurs into informality, the fickle enforcement of creditors' rights by law courts and the "crowding out" effect of public sector borrowing.

The IDB is assisting member countries in their efforts to overcome many of these problems. "But perhaps the best thing we could achieve would be to persuade formal financial institutions that lending to small and medium-size firms can be good business," Iglesias added.

Social inclusion

Three distinguished Latin American leaders from traditionally excluded groups who have reached the pinnacle of influence in their countries were recognized today by the IDB for their long-standing fight against discrimination.

Benedita da Silva, minister of social assistance of Brazil, Nina Pacari Vega, Ecuadorian foreign minister, and Gilberto Rincon Gallardo, president of the Citizens' Study Commission to Fight Discrimination in Mexico, were honored by IDB President Enrique V. Iglesias at the close of the first day of the seminar "Good practices for social inclusion: Dialogue between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean."

The event was highlighted by presentations by the Colombian youth choruses of Batuta and Amadeus, an example of the cultural riches and diversity of that country and the region.

The seminar was inaugurated by Iglesias together with Lorenzo Ornagui, president of the Agency for Non-Profit Social Agencies of Italy and dean of the Catholic University of Milan; and CEPAL Secretary General Jose Antonio Ocampo. The objective of the event is to spur the dialogue between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean to promote more inclusion in the region's societies.

Fighting rural poverty

In a seminar on rural poverty, experts in agricultural development today urged an integrated approach toward improving rural living conditions poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean that includes many different components, such as education, health and microenterprise, as well as agricultural support services.

IDB President Iglesias, in inaugurating the workshop, said that 80 million rural residents of Latin America and the Caribbean live in poverty, requiring new approaches and instruments on the part of policymakers to correct the inequity. He also urged a reduction in trade barriers imposed by industrial nations against Latin America's agricultural products.

Mario Baccini, subsecretary of Italy's Foreign Ministry, also an inaugural speaker, said his government would use the results of the workshop to develop a position of the Italian government on fighting poverty in Latin America that would be submitted the European Union.

He said macroeconomic stability, a sound fiscal structure, infrastructure and microcredit were all part of the policy mix needed to combat poverty.

Instead of concentrating on agriculture production, credit, and irrigation - the traditional areas of Bank lending for rural areas - the IDB now also provides credit for coordinated investment strategies that include rural investments in sectors such as education, health, enterprise diversification, microenterprise and reform of the state.

At the end of the workshop, President Iglesias signed two memoranda of understanding to help promote rural development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Other events

Other activities today included a seminar on Mercosur and its role in the world economy, specifically the role for Italy and Europe. In addition, nongovernmental organizations met with IDB Executive Vice President Dennis Flannery to discuss a number of subjects related to specific Bank lending operations and access to information.