Paraguay is a founding member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Bank’s partner in development
Through an ongoing process of cooperation, financing has been provided to the Paraguay to carry out major works, which have spurred the country’s economy. This year, the Bank’s portfolio of projects in execution in Paraguay totals 27 sovereign guarantee operations for $755.27 million, of which $445.9 million are pending disbursement.
For 2011, the portfolio of the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) includes 20 transactions for Paraguay for a total $23 million. Of this amount, $1.9 million have been extended from MIF’s own resources and $11.16 from donor contributions.
Projects implemented in 2010 and 2011 included the following:
Water and Sanitation A program to provide water and sanitation to small communities, which was carried out with the help of $12 million in IDB financing, provided 60,329 persons with access to water and constructed individual sanitary solutions for 53,268 people.
Education A program to improve elementary and pre-school education, which was carried out by the Ministry of Education and Culture from 2004 to 2011 with $28.5 million in IDB financing, benefited 108,516 children and helped to reduce the repetition rate from 11.7percent to 7.3 percent.
Infrastructure A highway improvement and integration program carried out by the Ministry of Public Works and Communications improved infrastructure in the Mariscal-Estigarribia stretch of Route Nº 9.The program, which was supported by $100 million in IDB financing, cut travel time on the route by half, reduced freight costs by 20 percent, and lowered the number of accidents by 50 percent.
Agriculture The Bank supported a program to modernize and diversify agricultural production that resulted in a quadrupling of production for 4,765 farmers. The program was carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture with IDB financing for $5.75 million.
Rural roads IDB financing for $67 million support the improvement of 6,000 kilometers of local roads in the Eastern Region. Also through the program, 2,552 km were included in the maintenance program, the number of kilometers of roads passable throughout the year increased by 100 percent, and partnerships were formed with municipalities to maintain nearly 2,000 km of roads. The program created 2,441 temporary jobs directly and about 5,000 indirect jobs.
Medium- and Small-size Enterprises and Housing Credits In less than four years, 2,226 micro, small- and medium-size enterprises received access to credit to increase production, and 1239 families received support to buy their own home.
Partnerships with the private sector A MIF-funded program to help small-scale cassava growers industrialize their production enabled 3,000 families to increase their average income 30 percent above the poverty line.In addition, the Company for the Development and Industrialization of Primary Products SA (CODIPSA) began an expansion phase with the construction of two additional plants for the production of cassava starch.
Tourism A program to promote tourism to the Missions in the Guaraní World by promoting the Franciscan Trail and the Jesuit Route helped to increase tourist income by 6 percent in 2010. The program included training for 1,204 entrepreneurs and tourism sector workers, and hundreds of micro- and small and medium-size businesses. Links to the area’s private sector increased the program’s sustainability through the creation of the Cooperative Network of Tourism Businesses and the Paraguayan Chamber of Commerce for the Jesuit Missions.