The Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a capital replenishment for the “Fund for Infrastructure Integration” (FIRII, for its initials in Spanish) which finances technical cooperation for infrastructure integration initiatives.
The measure, approved on December 10, 2008, will increase the fund’s original capital from $20 million to a maximum of $40 million in 2010.
Established in 2005, the FIRII is a nonreimbursable fund that supports preparation of infrastructure integration projects, with special emphasis on projects included in the IIRSA Initiative and Proyecto Mesoamérica, formerly known as the Plan Puebla-Panamá.
FIRII funds can be used to finance up to $1.5 million for studies related to the technical, economic, financial, institutional and legal feasibility of projects related to IIRSA and the Proyecto Mesoamérica. Within this framework, the Fund also finances social and environmental studies, public-private collaboration for specific projects, and activities connected with institutional strengthening.
The executing agencies for these technical cooperation operations may be governments or public institutions of the Bank’s borrowing member countries, as well as regional or intra-regional entities. All applicants must have counterpart funds. To date, the FIRII has executed 16 transactions totaling $16.1 million, in support of 14 infrastructure integration projects.
This measure enables the Bank to increase its support for strengthening the physical links between the countries and regions of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as its commitment to the process of regional integration