It will connect the city of Santiago de Caballeros with Puerto Plata.
The president of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), Dante Mossi, informed that this financial institution will be developing infrastructure projects in the region and gave as an example a highway with a tunnel in the Dominican Republic that will connect the city of Santiago de Caballeros with Puerto Plata.
Mossi cited other examples of upcoming infrastructure projects in the region such as:
- A port in Bluefields, Nicaragua.
- An El Tornillito dam in Honduras, which in addition to generating electricity will serve to mitigate flooding.
He also highlighted that Central America is directing its financing projects towards infrastructure and clean energy works, after the urgencies brought about by the covid-19 pandemic in recent years.
“We see infrastructure coming back into focus again, moving us away from budget support and away from what is the pandemic. We are seeing a very significant recovery of the economy,” said Mossi in an interview with EFE in Costa Rica, where that week there was a meeting of the entity’s board of directors.
At that meeting, US$450 million were approved for the Costa Rica Government City project, which includes the construction of a complex of 18 buildings to house several of the country’s state entities.
The bank will be in charge of carrying out the international bids for the construction of the building system, leasing
the property to the Costa Rican government and subsequently transferring it over a maximum period of 25 years.
According to Mossi, this method of financing and developing public works is a novel example that has aroused the interest of other countries in the region, as it does not involve significant increases in debt.
The CABEI president highlighted that 2022 was a record year for the entity with US$4 billion in loans approved to countries, and that he expects that in 2023 the situation will be similar, or even better if a capital increase of the bank is approved.
Assembly in the Dominican Republic
Mossi said that on May 10, at the CABEI Board of Governors meeting to be held in the Dominican Republic, the possibility of increasing the bank’s capital from the current US$7 billion to US$10 billion will be discussed.
According to Mossi, this possibility has a good atmosphere in the region and has already received the support of several countries such as Costa Rica, through President Rodrigo Chaves.
The CABEI president also highlighted the intention of the countries of the region to build works for the generation of clean energy and combat climate change.
In this area, he noted that the possibility of developing the first hydrogen factory in Honduras is being studied, and that in Costa Rica the feasibility of an offshore wind power plant is being analyzed. These two projects have the support of South Korea, a country that has experience in these areas.
“The energy sector continues to be a priority for the region and we hope to continue developing innovative projects in renewable energies and combating climate change,” said Mossi.
Another point underscored by the CABEI president is that the next board meeting will be held in April in Madrid, in the office that the Bank inaugurated last February.
He also recalled that CABEI looks beyond the region and proof of this is the approval on Thursday of US$400 million to Argentina for the “Argentina against Hunger Plan”, which aims to benefit 2.4 million people in vulnerable conditions.
About the projects financed to Nicaragua, whose government is the object of international accusations of human rights violations, Mossi said that it is one more member that has the same rights as the others and that the money approved obeys regional consensuses.
Source: Diariolibre.com
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