Place and date of the meeting
The Thirty-ninth Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank and Thirteenth Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors
of the Inter-American Investment Corporation will be held in Cartagena, Colombia, from March 16th to 18th, 1998. As in the past, the Bank and the host country
have organized a series of seminars in topics of interest to participants. These preliminary activities will begin on Thursday, March 12th. A separate card
providing information on the seminars is included with this brochure.
All meetings and seminars will be held at the Cartagena Convention Center except for the Informatics 2000 seminar, which will be held at the Cartagena Hilton
hotel.
Air travel to Cartagena
Because of limited air service into Cartagena, special arrangements have been made for this event with Colombia's national airline, Avianca. These special
arrangements do not appear in travel agents' automated reservation systems, and must be reserved by December 15th, 1997 by calling the following telephone
numbers or using the e-mail address or fax number indicated below:
From the Washington, D.C.,
area
202 862-9605 or 202 862-9606
From elsewhere in
the United States
888 678-9605
From other countries
AT&T country access code, plus
(1) 888 678-9605
By e-mail
www.idbctg@erols.com
By fax
202 862-5569
The reservation office operates from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm on weekdays and from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm on Saturday (Washington time).
Airport arrival procedures, customs and immigration
Since Colombian customs and immigration formalities are swift and simple, no special airport arrival procedures are being established for the meeting.
The Secretariat will send identifying baggage tags to all those who confirm that they plan to attend. Use of the baggage tags will help expedite customs formalities
and make it possible for arriving travelers to be provided with any assistance they might require.
To enter Colombia, participants who are citizens of the following IDB member countries will need to present a valid passport with a visa issued by the Colombian
authorities:
Dominican Republic
Haiti
Nicaragua
Nationals of other member countries do not need a visa to enter Colombia.
Currency
Colombia's unit of currency is the Colombian peso. As of October 2nd, 1997, the exchange rate was quoted at 1242 pesos to the United States dollar for
transactions involving cash or traveler's checks.
Weather
March is normally warm and humid in Cartagena, with average high temperatures of around 25 to 30 degrees Celsius (75 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit).
It is recommended that participants wear lightweight clothing such as a guayabera for all working sessions other than the inaugural session.
Time zone
In mid-March when the annual meeting will be held, Cartagena will be on the same time as Eastern Standard Time in North America that is, five hours behind
Greenwich Mean Time. Thus, when it is 12:00 noon in Cartagena it is also 12:00 noon EST, and it is 5:00 pm GMT.
Electricity
The electric current in Cartagena operates on 110 volts at 60 hertz.