Korea-IDB partnership to expand with a new contribution to the Korea Public Capacity Building Fund (KPC) managed by the IDB. This contribution is the first installment of a $20 million pledge made by Korea to the KPC in late 2021.

On February 28, President Mauricio Claver-Carone of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) met with Eog-weon Lee, First Vice Minister of Economy and Finance, for a bilateral meeting, to discuss partnership milestones, strategic expansion of the cooperation between the IDB and Korea, and explore opportunities to increase Korea’s engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

During the meeting, President Claver-Carone and the First Vice Minister reflected on the critical role Korea has played as a development partner for the region and the many lessons that Latin America and the Caribbean can learn from Korea’s own development story. The meeting took place as part of the IDB annual consultations with its 48 shareholders.

The $4 million contribution is for the KPC fund which was established in 2012 by Korea and the IDB to channel Korean resources to improve public sector capacity in the region, in part by facilitating the efficient allocation and use of public funds at national and sub-national levels. The fund is one of four single-donor trust funds financed by Korea and managed by the IDB, which over the years have received more than $222 million in contributions from Korea and approved more than $181 million to support areas including science and technology, infrastructure, health, energy, education, and reform and modernization of the state. Starting this year, Korea will contribute a total of $20 million to the fund through 2026.

These trust funds complement other partnership initiatives like the Korea Infrastructure Facility, a landmark co-financing facility that enables Korea and the IDB to jointly support critical infrastructure projects. Created in 2015 with an initial contribution of $100 million, Korea expanded the fund by $300 million in 2017 and with a historic $500 million contribution in 2021, which was formalized at a signing ceremony with the Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance.