Dec. 8, 2009 -- Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President, Luis Alberto Moreno, and European Investment Bank (EIB) Vice-president, Carlos Da Silva Costa, signed a Memorandum of Understanding today in Lisbon, on the margins of the XIX Ibero-American Summit.

“Our cooperation and co-financing with the EIB are in line with our collective objectives of supporting economic growth, build infrastructure with a solid environmental focus, foster private sector development and create employment opportunities,” IDB president Luis Alberto Moreno said.

EIB Vice-president declared “the Memorandum signed today allows for an improved collaboration between IDB and EIB, which has already proved its usefulness during the last five years, achieving significant synergies between the respective functional advantages and regional specialities of the two institutions in order to provide a better support to the Latin American investment effort.”

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerns the coordination in the financing of projects of common interest to both International Financial Institutions and follows the one signed in December 2004, which is due to expire end of this year. Projects of common interest are projects that contribute to the economic and social development of Latin America and the Caribbean and also meet other European Union objectives, namely to support EU presence through transfer of technology and know-how in Latin America and to contribute to environmental sustainability in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The MoU aims at optimising the combination of EIB's financial strength and its private sector orientation with IDB's political reach and coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean and its capacity to identify and implement projects with both public and private partners. Both institutions are also keen in jointly exploring possibilities to attract private investment to the Latin America and Caribbean region.

Under the previous Memorandum of Understanding, IDB and EIB have co-financed projects such as the Panama Canal Expansion, the Panama City and Bay Sanitation and the Nicaragua Power sector rehabilitation programme, of undoubted importance for the region. Projects in the energy and transport sector involving IDB and EIB financing are expected to be signed in the course of 2010.

The EIB, established in 1958 by the Treaty of Rome, finances capital investment projects that further the European Union (EU) policy objectives. It also participates in the implementation of the EU's co-operation policy towards third countries. Financing in Latin America is carried out under the ALA (1) IV mandate from the EU, to finance operations that support the EU presence in those regions through Foreign Direct Investment, transfer of technology and know-how, or contribute to environmental sustainability. In the Caribbean, the Bank’s activities are carried out under the provisions of the Investment Facility, set up by the ACP-EU (2) Partnership Agreement, which not only provides for financing in the form of loans but also grant aid from the EU member states. The Investment Facility aims at supporting technically, environmentally, financially and economically sound projects in the private or the commercially run public sector.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is an international organization established in 1959 to promote the economic and social development of its member countries. IDB has become the largest multilateral lender in Latin America and the Caribbean and a key provider of non-reimbursable technical assistance.