LOANS
Bolivia
$7 million from the Fund for Special Operations to improve public investment programming and preinvestment management at the departmental and municipal levels.
The project, to be carried out by the Secretaría de Inversión Pública, will help implement the National Public Investment System, which will demand efficiency in the programming of public investments. The project will include Bolivia's nine departments and 11 of the principal municipal governments, including all departmental capitals.
Costa Rica
$28 million to improve the quality, efficiency, and equity of preschool and lower secondary education.
The project will expand preschool education in low-income urban and rural communities and broaden coverage in rural areas for grades seven through nine, known as the "third cycle."
The resources will help the Ministry of Public Education to expand kindergarten coverage by 5,880 pupils per year and "third cycle" coverage by 9,067 pupils per year, while reducing dropout and repetition rates in rural areas.
Jamaica
$10 million to finance infrastructure and social assistance projects benefitting low-income groups.
The resources will support a $50 million program, to be carried out by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, that will provide short- and medium-term benefits to the poor. Projects to be financed include social infrastructure, such as schools, community centers, and health centers; economic infrastructure, including roads and agroprocessing facilities; and social assistance, such as career guidance and job placement for youth, and parenting and family life education.
Paraguay
$39 million to support a health sector modernization and reform program.
The program will address one of the country's main health problems--a high rate of maternal and perinatal mortality--while supporting the first phase of a health sector modernization process that aims to achieve better quality services, more efficiency, and greater social equity.
The program will include mechanisms to improve resource allocation and managerial skills within Paraguay's Ministry of Public Health and Welfare. Primary health care will be improved through training and human resources development, rehabilitation of infrastructure and equipment, and reforms to the patient referral system. The total cost of the program is $46.6 million.
TECHNICAL COOPERATION
Regional
$1,850,000 to support a management and public policy training program for civil servants at the professional and managerial levels in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The resources will finance some 54 full scholarships for masters degrees in management and public policy under auspices of the Industrial Engineering Department of the University of Chile. Preference for these scholarships will be given to civil servants from countries that are classified as relatively less developed and having limited markets.
MULTILATERAL INVESTMENT FUND
Brazil
$1.14 million to the state of São Paulo to support institutional and regulatory changes that will permit greater private investment in the transportation sector.
The resources will finance the consolidation of the institutional and regulatory framework for the highway concession program and strengthen the state's Transportation Concession Commission.
Peru
$1.3 million in nonreimbursable financing to promote private sector participation in the construction and operation of highways under a concession system.
The program, to be carried out by Peru's Comisión de Promoción de Concesiones Privadas, will establish the legal and administrative framework for the concession system.
Uruguay
$1,025,000 to attract private investment in infrastructure by strengthening the concession system for public works and services.
Funds will be used to enhance the legal and operational instruments of the existing concession system and strengthen the capacities of government agencies.
Regional
$1.65 million to support nontraditional job training for low-income women in four Caribbean countries.
Educational institutions and nongovernmental women's organizations with track records in technical and vocational training will carry out the program in Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The program will benefit 1,000 low-income women who are heads of households by training them in areas such as construction, carpentry, plumbing, and auto mechanics.
INTER-AMERICAN INVESTMENT CORPORATION
Argentina
$10 million to Dominion Nonwovens Sudamericana, S.A., to help finance the construction of a plant to produce nonwoven textiles used in the manufacture of disposable baby diapers.
The company will purchase state-of-the art equipment that will allow it to substitute imports, which currently make up about 15 percent of national consumption. The total cost of the project is $44.7 million.
Mexico
A $3 million equity investment to help establish the Mexico Private Equity Fund.
The five-year fund, which has a target initial closing of $30 million, will provide investment capital for between 12 and 15 small and medium-sized export-oriented businesses located in northwestern Mexico that plan to expand operations in manufacturing, agribusiness, and consumer goods.
Trinidad and Tobago
$2.5 million loan and $1.5 million equity investment for Mora Oil Ventures Limited to help expand and improve the company's offshore oil platform.
The investment will support a small, locally owned oil and natural gas producer in an industry dominated by large multinational firms.
Regional
A $5 million equity investment to help establish a $50 million fund that will invest in private financial institutions on a medium- and long-term basis.
The Inter-American Capital Fund will take equity positions in a portfolio of small and medium-sized private financial institutions with a good market niche, professional management, and promising growth prospects.