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Integration reality check
June 01, 1997
Mercosur has successfully expanded trade and investment among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, but the trade pact faces big challenges in the future, according to a report by the Institute for the Integration of Latin America and Caribbean (INTAL).Trade within Mercosur has grown to $16 billion a year, or one-fifth of the total external trade of all its member countries. However, intra-Mercosur trade has not yet reached its full potential, particularly if compared with Southeast Asia, according to the first report on the trade pact by INTAL, an IDB affiliate based in Buenos Aires.
The gritty reality of microenterprise
June 01, 1997
The theory and practice of microenterprise came face-to-face in Costa Rica last month at a seminar co-sponsored by the IDB and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Wedding bells ring up sales
June 01, 1997
Although Glenda Sandoval Rodríguez is accustomed to receiving compliments for her work, she never imagined that the accolades would one day come from the first lady of the United States.
World-class hospital
June 01, 1997
Southern Chile's legendary earthquake of 1960 killed hundreds of people and damaged countless buildings, including the Regional Hospital of Valdivia, where the three top floors of the eight-story building had to be closed.
Today, a state-of-the-art hospital has finally replaced temporary facilities that were built in the aftermath of the earthquake. The new hospital was one of four in northern, central and southern Chile built partly with funds from a $70 million IDB health services loan approved in 1991.
Sugar and rice output booms
June 01, 1997
Seven years ago, the economy of Guyana was in a shambles. Sugar and rice production, which accounted for half of the country's exports and foreign exchange, had dropped by half in just four years. One-fourth of the country's agricultural equipment and machinery was out of commission due to lack of foreign exchange to buy spare parts.
It was a vicious circle: the lower the production and exports, the less foreign exchange was available to buy spare parts and machinery, further reducing production.
Improving public management in Bolivia
June 01, 1997
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
Extending rural education in Costa Rica
June 01, 1997
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
Social assistance in Jamaica
June 01, 1997
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
Modernizing health care in Paraguay
June 01, 1997
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
Management training for civil servants
June 01, 1997
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