Paraguay will strengthen national program of postgraduate scholarships with IDB support

A $30 million loan will directly benefit more than 3,500 public and private sector workers, and indirectly to public institutions and companies in the country

Paraguay will strengthen the National Program of Postgraduate Scholarships Abroad “Don Carlos Antonio López” with the support of a $30 million loan approved by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The program will contribute to improving the performance of public institutions and private companies by incorporating Advanced Human Capital (CHA) as part of its human resources endowment. Its specific objectives are to increase the participation of CHA in a set of public and private sector institutions in the country and promote the sustainability of the National Program of Postgraduate Scholarships Abroad "Don Carlos Antonio López" (BECAL).

The operation will finance postgraduate scholarships for public sector workers in order to meet training needs in strategic cross-cutting issues, such as budget management and public procurement, among others; and training needs in strategic mission issues, including public health, security and infrastructure.

For this, actions such as the granting and monitoring of master's and doctoral scholarships for public sector workers abroad, granting and monitoring of master's scholarships and specialization scholarships for public sector workers in the country, and identification workshops will be implemented. of priority demands of Advanced Human Capital in the public sector.

As for private sector workers, partially postgraduate programs will be financed for training linked to the development of innovation activities and new businesses, including the granting and monitoring of master's and doctoral scholarships abroad; granting and monitoring of master's and specialization scholarships in the country, as well as workshops to identify priority CHA demands in the private sector.

These are scholarships of excellence to take studies in some of the best 300 universities according to international classifications.

In the same way, full-time scholarships will be financed for the realization of studies in doctoral programs in Paraguayan universities, recognized for their trajectory and level of call.

Additionally, it will seek to improve the financial sustainability of the BECAL Program through the development of an instrument to promote the supply of credit for postgraduate studies abroad.

It is estimated that 3,543 workers in the public and private sectors will be the direct beneficiaries of the program, and indirect beneficiaries of the private sector companies and public institutions in the country.

The IDB loan of $30 million has a repayment term of 24 years, a grace period of 6 and a half years, and an interest rate based on LIBOR.

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