Inter-American Development Bank President Enrique V. Iglesias and Enrique Garcia, president of the Andean Development Corporation, today offered $1 billion in financing to assist development of the Peru-Ecuador border region.
In a ceremony that included attendance by the presidents of the two countries, Iglesias and Garcia each offered $500 million for binational social and economic development programs in the once-disputed frontier region between Peru and Ecuador.
Both the IDB and the Andean Development Corporation are also providing grant funds for technical assistance and project development to assist border region development.
Mark Schneider, assistant administrator for the United States Agency for International Development, pledged an immediate grant of $2 million for project development and other grants totaling $20 million for projects such as the Peace Park, microenterprise, and social programs.
International donors are expected to greatly increase the amount of pledged resources available for border development at a conference to be held later this year.
Iglesias said today's pledges were a "point of departure" for other donors and he called the peace agreement between Peru and Ecuador a "triumph for the Americas."
Pledges of support and new resources and technical assistance were also delivered today by Michel Camdessus, managing director of the International Monetary Fund; Shashid Javed Burki, World Bank vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean; and Jacob Simonsen, deputy regional director of the United Nations Development Programme.
The Peru-Ecuador peace accord of Oct. 26, 1998, established an ambitious agenda to improve the quality of life in both countries through economic integration and investments in areas such as infrastructure, small business and microenterprise, environmental projects, tourism, health, water and sanitation, electricity, and postal services.