IDB will provide support with a $20 million line of credit; the first $5 million tranche will benefit 12 cities and towns along the Uruguay River corridor
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a line of credit for $20 million in investment projects to finance national tourism development in Uruguay. As part of this effort, the IDB gave the green light to a first $5 million disbursal for the Tourism Corridor Development Program, which will help 12 cities and towns along the Uruguay River corridor and their 275,000 residents.
The goal of the line of credit is to contribute to job and income creation in up and coming towns, consolidating tourism as a factor of territorial balance. It calls for recovering and upgrading public tourism attractions with the potential to lure new markets and in-demand features, with the criteria of adaptation and resilience to climate change and environmental sustainability.
It will also support tourism entrepreneurship and innovative investment, and strengthen sub-national tourism institutions.
The first disbursal will support the goal of increasing tourism spending in departments that make up the Uruguay River corridor (Artigas, Salto, Paysandú, Río Negro and Soriano), as this is what creates jobs and boosts local people's income.
To this end, the transaction will finance the creation and consolidation of facilities in the corridor that are geared toward developing nautical, cultural and eco-tourism.
It will also provide technical and financial support for local entrepreneurs to create and consolidate new tourism ideas through the so-called Fondo Concursable (Bidding Fund), and the implementation of a tourism observatory.
The first $5 million approved as part of the line of credit for investment projects is over 25 years with a grace period of five and a half years. It has an interest rate based on LIBOR and features a local contribution of $1.25 million.
About the IDB
The Inter-American Development Bank is devoted to improving lives. Established in 1959, the IDB is a leading source 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 policy advice, technical assistance and training to public and private sector clients throughout the region.