A US$25 million loan will improve the production of statistical information to assist in the decision-making process by public and private agents. The National Institute of Statistics (INE) is the lead agency responsible for the project that aims to enhance the quality, integrity and access to statistical information like household surveys and poverty estimates.

The program will improve the INE’s internal management and infrastructure. The project will also assist the National Statistics System (SEN), an entity that brings together several public and private data-gathering sources. The idea is to strengthen the planning, formulation and evaluation of public policy and allocation of resources. In addition the program will finance preliminary activities related to the 2010 Population and Housing Census.

During the design of the operation, the IDB incorporated experiences from other statistical institutes along with the latest methodological and technical advances in the fields of statistics and census operations.

Separately, Venezuela and the IDB signed a $14 million loan for a program to sustainably manage the Caroní River watershed.

The Ministry of Popular Power for the Environment will carry out the project, which will focus on strengthening institutions charged with managing the Caroní River watershed, protecting land rights and improving living conditions for local communities, including indigenous ones in the area and promoting appropriate land use practices.

The long-term objective of the program is to the enhance hydroelectric potential of the watershed by creating conditions that encourage sustainable and integrated management of local resources.