Chile and the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) are working together to close the country’s remaining gaps with the standards of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the areas of labor markets, climate change, innovation, technology, trade and governance.
The Bank collaborates with the Chilean authorities to spur economic growth through employment, strengthen public safety, and promote dialogue with leaders in the education, indigenous, and social protection sectors. The IDB also support’s Chile’s efforts to transmit the country’s knowledge to other countries in the region.
Chile has achieved a high level of development in the field of procurement and public financial management. In late 2011 the IDB validated the country’s national procurement system and approved its use (instead of that of the Bank) for certain projects the Bank finances in the Chile. This was the first time the Bank has approved the use of a national procurement system for IDB projects in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In the past six years the IDB has approved $438 million in loans and technical assistance to increase effectiveness and transparency in Chile’s public sector. An example is the Program to Strengthen the Pension and Information Management System, which was carried out by the Ministry of Labor. The program has reduced the average response time for payment and/or resolution of pension benefits from 44 to 10 days and increased by 60 percent the participation of users in the operation of the program. IDB funding for the program was $17.5 million.
Another example of the Bank's work in Chile is the operation to Strengthen Support to the Legislative Function, which was carried out in conjunction with the Library of the National Congress. This operation has helped to strengthen the link between Congress and the public, revamp the information architecture in order to increase the number of visits to the Parliamentary Services Portal to more than 10,000 visits annually, create community interaction networks to disseminate the work of Congress and the library, and provide opportunities for direct communication between parliamentarians and citizens.
The Bank is currently financing operations such as the Program to Highlight Patrimony, which seeks to protect historic properties that have been declared national monuments or which are in the process of receiving this status. The aim of the program is to generate economic benefits and contribute to the development process of the country’s regions. These operations are being carried out by the Undersecretary of Regional Development, and represent 73 percent of that agency’s current portfolio.
Another important operation is the Program for Regional Productive Development Agencies, which seeks to improve the competitiveness of Chile’s regions and increase the productivity of micro, small and medium-sized regional companies participating in the program through these agencies. The role of the agencies is to provide coordination and linkages at the regional level for productive support, in accordance with the needs of the regions.
This year saw the approval of new projects such as the Program for the Institutional Modernization of the State Defense Council, whose objective is toimprove the quality, efficiency, and transparency of institutional management; and the Program for the Establishment of an Integrated Foreign Trade System, which will result in single window for channeling all export and import procedures.