Representatives of the Canadian International Development Agency and the Inter-American Development Bank today signed an agreement in which the IDB will administer a CIDA contribution of 6,250,000 Canadian dollars for technical assistance that will support the Hemispheric Cooperation Program of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
The resources will be used to support projects in IDB borrowing country members to enable them to strengthen their capacity to participate in trade negotiations, carry out their trade commitments, and benefit from hemispheric integration, which is expected to improve competitiveness and productive capacity in the region. The assistance will be focused on helping countries with smaller economies.
The agreement was signed by Guillermo Rishchynski, vice president, Americas Branch, CIDA, and Keisuke Nakamura, IDB deputy manager for financial support services.
Grants of up to 150,000 Canadian dollars may be approved for projects of each participating country or for each regional project approved by the CIDA and the IDB, which is a member of the Tripartite Committee that provides technical assistance, financing and advisory services to the Secretariat in charge of coordinating negotiations for the FTAA.
Canada is a long-standing contributor to the Bank's technical cooperation program. Between 1964 and 1974, the pioneer Canadian Fund contributed 74 million Canadian dollars to finance technical assistance for a wide range of Bank operations, particularly in basic infrastructure. Since 1974, the Canadian Technical Assistance Program has provided 14 million Canadian dollars in grants for Bank loan preparation for the reduction of poverty and inequality in the region. CIDA's expanded collaboration with the IDB is further promoted by the Framework Agreement between both institutions signed in early 2002.