The Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology, a consortium created in 1998 with support from the Inter-American Development Bank to promote regional agricultural research in Latin America and the Caribbean, announced today that it received a $12 million contribution from Venezuela that completes that country’s financial commitments to the fund, known as FONTAGRO.
With this contribution Venezuela becomes the third country to fulfill its commitment to FONTAGRO, following Ecuador and Peru. The formal disbursement request, drawn from remnants of an IDB loan to Venezuela, was made by the country’s finance minister and upcoming IDB executive director, José A. Rojas, after the present director for Venezuela, Adina Bastidas, made the announcement in the June 20 meeting of the Bank Board of Directors. A report on the activities of FONTAGRO was presented to the Board on that occasion.
Other member countries that have made partial disbursements on their committed investment are Bolivia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay.
FONTAGRO already has more than 20 projects under execution in the region in the areas of agricultural technology development and the design of agricultural policies. Its endowment fund is formed by resources from member countries and is expected to reach $200 million by the year 2005.
Income generated by the fund finances competitive, non-reimbursable, regional agricultural research projects.