"The region has a great natural and cultural legacy, with a great economic potential," said Iglesias before the opening session of "New Directions in Heritage Preservation in Latin America and the Caribbean." He noted that 4.5 percent of the region’s domestic product is related to culture.

In addition, continued Iglesias, while the process of globalization poses great risks to cultural identity, a strong cultural heritage will enable societies to maintain their coherence in a changing world.

The day-long seminar began with a ceremony to sign a grant to support the landmark Mundo Maya program to preserve the cultural, environmental and historical heritage in the five countries with Mayan traditions. The $1.3 million IDB grant will finance an investment plan for the 500,000-square-kilometer area in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Belize and the Mexican states of Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and the Yucatan. Future activities will include tourism projects carried out in with the participation of local communities.

"The Mundo Maya program will stand as a way of recognizing the concrete relation between development and culture," said Iglesias.

The purpose of the seminar was to discuss how cultural heritage can be incorporated in the Bank’s lending and technical cooperation activities. The event was sponsored by the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade and the Italian-Latin American Institute.

According to Auguso Zodda, director general of Italy’s Ministry of Finance, a key question should be how the Bank can strengthen relations with other organizations working in the field. "In this way, the Bank will get the benefit of outside expertise," he said. "In return, these organizations will receive the Bank’s support in making contact with governments."

In his presentation, Brazil’s Minister of Culture, Francisco Weffort, emphasized the need to reverse the contradictory relationship between development and preservation that has prevailed in the past. Sao Paulo, the Brazilian city that developed the fastest, took the least care in preserving its patrimony, he said. "The places in Latin America where the greatest cultural monuments remain are on the margins of economic growth," said Weffort. He cited the example of Quito, Ecuador, where the economic focus shifted from the city’s historic center to other areas. As a result, the historic district remained relatively unscathed, to become in recent years the site for a pioneering IDB-financed restoration and economic development program.

"We must turn history around to combine development and heritage preservation," said Weffort.

In addition to Quito, the IDB has financed historic preservation programs in Uruguay and Brazil. It is also providing technical assistance for programs in Bolivia, Santo Domingo and Panama, in addition to the countries participating in the Mundo Maya initiative. A hallmark of these programs is strong private sector participation and the involvement of local communities.