The Boards of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) will hold their 48th and 22nd Annual Meeting, respectively, in Guatemala City March 16-20, 2007, to examine their policies and new initiatives.
Guatemala’s social and cultural diversity and its Mayan legacy will be the backdrop for the Annual Meeting of the IDB Group, during which policies and initiatives aimed at strengthening the impact of both institutions on the region’s economic and social development will be discussed.
The Boards of Governors are the highest authorities of the IDB and the IIC. Their members are finance or economic affairs ministers, presidents of central banks or other high-ranking officials from the organizations’ 47 member countries.
The plenary sessions of the Boards of Governors will take place on March 19 and 20 and will be preceded by a series of seminars and activities on social inclusion, youth, and the private sector. The inaugural session will be held in the Teatro Nacional. The remainder of the sessions, seminars and meetings will take place at the Hotel Camino Real, the InterContinental Hotel and ANACAFE headquarters.
During 2006, the IDB approved 113 loans and 12 guarantees totaling $6.4 billion, including 76 loans public-sector investment projects totaling close to $3.6 billion, 17 policy-based loans for close to $1.8 billion and 20 operations without sovereign guarantees for $916 million. The latter category of loans and credit guarantees was made possible thanks to new policies approved at last year’s Annual Meeting that raised the cap for such operations and expanded them to more sectors.
The IIC approved 46 operations in 13 countries for a total of $338 million. The Corporation also approved its first loan denominated in local currency.
The IDB-administered Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) approved a total of 111 operations totaling close to $129 million, a 12 percent increase over approvals in 2005. Five countries—France, Haiti, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom—agreed to participate in a replenishment of the MIF, bringing to 38 the fund’s member countries.
Since it was established in 1959, the IDB has provided over 120 loans and 400 technical cooperation grants to Guatemala, totaling close to $3.2 billion. In 2006, IDB loans to Guatemala totaled $239 million.
Exhibit in WashingtonIn conjunction with the Annual Meeting, the IDB Cultural Center is holding an art exhibit at its Washington, D.C., headquarters from Feb. 14 through May 4. The exhibit, “Guatemala: Past and Future,” honors that country’s Mayan legacy and features the works of modern artists such as Carlos Mérida and digital displays of Mayan cities during their zenith prepared by Studio S.A.
Official seminars and other activitiesMarch 16, Social inclusion: The Way Ahead, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Camino Real Hotel
March 16, Private Initiative for Public Welfare, 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Inter-Continental Hotel
March 17, Inter-American Business Forums, 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Inter-Continental Hotel
March 16, Youth meeting, 9 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., ANACAFE
March 17, Meeting with civil society, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., ANACAFE
BroadcastThe activities during the Annual Meeting of the IDB’s Board of Governors will be broadcast on the Bank’s webpage at www.iadb.org/am/2007.
The IDB will also provide the media with daily footage of the sessions with statements from chiefs of state, ministers of finance and other attendees via satellite, by Intelsat.