US$100 million loan for multisector integration projects handled by FONPLATA
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a US$100 million loan to help the Financial Fund for the Development of the Río de la Plata Basin (FONPLATA, for its acronym in Spanish) promote economic and social integration in that hydrographic region shared by Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The operation’s goal is to reduce integration and development asymmetries in areas adjacent to the basin, particularly in the Jesuitical Missions Corridor and its numerous circuits, the project’s main focal point of intervention and integration.
The program will fund high impact, high local value multisector investments, boosting their economic, social and cultural opportunities. The financing will go to regional integration projects in tourism, connectivity infrastructure, border cities development, institutional development and governance, among others.
FONPLATA will use the IDB funding to provide sub-loans to eligible projects in basin member nations that promote regional integration and generate benefits for two or more countries.
This operation could be duplicated in other integration areas associated with economic, social and cultural issues that can foster union in border areas. Therefore, this program has been structured under the IDB’s Flexible Financing Facility (FFF) and complements other regional integration initiatives that the Bank supports in the Southern Cone of the continent.
The IDB and FONPLATA have been partners since the 1980s. In addition to the IDB's direct support for the strengthening of FONPLATA at the start of its activities, the institutions have developed joint operations in several of the FONPLATA member countries on integration, infrastructure, and improvement of cities and basins.
About FONPLATA
FONPLATA is an entity with internationally recognized legal status established in 1974 by Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Its mission is to support its member nations’ integration efforts in order to achieve harmonic and inclusive development both within and beyond the Río de la Plata Basin’s geographical areas of influence, especially focused on medium and small projects that complement the efforts of other national and regional development agencies.
About the IDB
The mission of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is to improve lives. Founded in 1959, the IDB is one of the main sources of long-term financing for economic, social and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDB also conducts cutting-edge research and provides consulting services about policies, technical assistance and training to public and private clients across the region.