IDB offers investors to be bridge for Latin America

Santiago, Mar 26 (EFE).- The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on Wednesday defended its role as a “bridge” for investors to enter Latin America and called for “vital” cooperation with civil society organizations to improve their effectiveness in the region.

“We are going around the world telling investors to enter Latin America, that we are the bridge to Latin America because we give the guarantee that it is a good project,” said the organization's president, Ilan Goldfajn.

The Brazilian economist was speaking at the opening panel of the seminars that precede the Annual Meeting of the IDB's Board of Governors, comprising of finance and economy ministers and other senior officials from the 48 member countries. The Board is to meet from March 28 to 30 in Santiago, Chile, to discuss, together with the private sector, development challenges and opportunities.

“We want to be a bank that has a greater presence both in scale and impact,” added Goldfajn, who took office in December 2022 for a five-year term.

The IDB is relying on the BID for the Americas program to increase its collaboration with the private sector. The initiative was launched in 2023 and fosters business opportunities between 26 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and key partners in Europe, North America and Asia.

Goldfajn considered it equally vital to have civil society organizations on board.

“They are an essential part of our work, our project, our strategies and our way of operating as an institution. This is not just a formality,” he said.

IDB Vice President for Countries and Regional Integration Anabel González said “real change happens through collaboration, which is why it is important to include civil society organizations. They can strengthen transparency and accountability, and they are also important because they generate public trust”.

This week's meeting in Chile, where an IDB Board of Governors annual meeting has not been held since 2001, will serve to discuss joint work and priorities, and how to increase effectiveness.

The seminars will also address issues such as citizen security, the elimination of poverty and increasing resilience to natural disasters.

“The region has one of the highest levels of inequality in the world, and the IDB is one of the most powerful institutions. Powerful in the sense of being able to change reality. It is not a political institution in the sense that it is not committed to a government, but to the state,” said Goldfajn.

The IDB was founded in 1959 and currently oversees more than 25 billion dollars in annual financing, with a target of surpassing $38 billion per year by 2030.

This week in Chile will also see the 39th Annual Meeting of the IDB Invest Board of Governors. IDB Invest is the private-sector arm of the IDB, and is responsible for 44% of the multilateral bank’s operations in the region.

IDB Invest CEO James Scriven used the opening session to stress the organization's commitment to “total transparency.”

“We handle public funds, everything we do has to be public,” he said.

IDB Invest, he said, does not have a “strategy isolated” from what governments are asking of them.

“What they are asking of us today is to be much more aggressive in certain sectors. Those sectors obviously have an environmental impact and it is important that we work together. For example, in infrastructure,” he concluded.

The business model developed to drive sustainable impact via the private sector is called 'Originate to Share', which aims to benefit 2.5 million MSMEs and 1.6 million poor and vulnerable people each year. EFE

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Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Ilan Goldfajn (L), IDB Communications Division Chief Yolanda López de Otero (C), and Vice President for Countries and Regional Integration Anabel González attend the opening day of the 2025 Annual Meetings of the IDB and IDB Invest Boards of Governors in Santiago, Chile. EFE/Elvis González

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Ilan Goldfajn (L) and IDB Communications Division Chief Yolanda López de Otero attend the opening day of the 2025 Annual Meetings of the IDB and IDB Invest Boards of Governors in Santiago, Chile. EFE/Elvis González

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Ilan Goldfajn attends the opening day of the 2025 Annual Meetings of the IDB and IDB Invest Boards of Governors in Santiago, Chile. EFE/Elvis González

Photograph of attendees at the opening day of the 2025 Annual Meetings of the IDB and IDB Invest Boards of Governors in Santiago, Chile. EFE/Elvis González