A loan for $400 million from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will help Colombia to improve the quality and relevance of its human resources training system as a basis for boosting the country’s long-term productivity.
The operation is the second extended from an IDB programmatic policy-based credit line directed at helping to create the institutional foundations and technical processes on which Colombia’s future National Qualifications System will be created.
The new system will improve the linkage between the country’s labor market and human resource formation by defining, evaluating, and developing capacity in relation to the needs of the workplace. It will also make possible the progressive expansion of job skills acquisition.
The present operation will continue to support improvements in the system’s institutional structure, the design of technical and operational procedures for designing competency, and certification standards. It will also seek to involve the productive sector as a key actor in the reforms being carried out and in the future system.
The IDB’s programmatic loans are fast-disbursing instruments that provide Bank borrowing member countries with resources to support public sector budgets related to program goals.
The IDB loan is for a 20-year term, with a 5.5-year grace period and an interest rate based on LIBOR.