• Within the framework of the meeting of Chief Economists of Latin America and the Caribbean, sustainable finance issues related to infrastructure, technology, SMEs, financial inclusion and gender equality were addressed.

February 29, 2024- ALIDE, the Inter-American Development Bank and AFD Group organized the 4th Meeting of Chief Economists of Development Finance Institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean that began on February 29 and will continue until March 1.

This fourth edition of the meeting, held at ALIDE’s headquarters in Lima, Peru, focuses on the “Alignment of Development Banking with Major Global Initiatives and Agreements Relevant to Latin America and the Caribbean”.

During the first day of the meeting, we explored the role of Development Banking as a catalyst in the transition to a more sustainable and climate change resilient economy. In the first panel of the event, Ricardo Santos, an Economist from the European Investment Bank (EIB), underscored that “Public Development Banks and International Financial Institutions have an important role to play in fomenting ecological investments, not only for the public sector, but also for the private sector”.

Moreover, ABDE, AFD, IDB, CDF, EIB, ICO and BNDES shared strategic initiatives that seek to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the commitments established in the Paris Agreement.

In the second panel, focused on infrastructure and urban development with public-private cooperation, the speakers underscored the social impact generated by infrastructure projects in the region. In that sense, the president of the board of directors of the Fondo MiVivienda, Francisco Carbajal, stressed the fact that “the Peruvian state, through the Fondo MiVivienda, has been contributing to the improvement of the quality of life through access to housing for 726,487 Peruvian families.”

The third panel featured representatives from Nafin/Bancomext, CAF and Bancóldex and analyzed technological progress and the implementation of innovative technologies in Development Banking.

“In order to bolster the technological transformation of MSMEs in Colombia, Bancóldex, together with the support of territorial entities, designed and launched 7 special credit lines,” said Maria José Naranjo, Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Bancóldex.

The day culminated with the panel focused on SMEs, financial inclusion and gender equality. In this section, the following participated: Banco Do Nordeste, Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica (BCIE), Banhprovi, Banco Nacional de Costa Rica, CONAFIPS, COFIDE and Banco Central de Honduras.

The eight institutions agreed on the importance of adopting perspectives of inclusion and equity within the financial institutions in order to contribute to closing social and gender gaps.

On this first date of the meeting, more than 75 top executives participated, who will meet again on March 1 to continue discussing two essential issues on development banking: sustainable agriculture and food security, on one hand, and the impact assessment of the financing of public development banking, on the other hand.