CAF – development bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF)
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 Map indicating CAF members. | |
| Headquarters | Caracas, Venezuela |
| Largest shareholder countries | Multilateral development bank |
| Membership |
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| Leaders | |
| Sergio Diaz-Granados Guida[1] | |
• Executive Vice President | Carolina España |
| Establishment | February 7, 1968 |
Website www | |
CAF - development bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, formerly the Andean Development Corporation (or Corporación Andino de Fomento), is a development bank whose mission is to promote sustainable development and regional integration in Latin America and the Caribbean, through the financing of projects of the public and private sectors, the provision of technical cooperation and other specialized services.
Created on February 7, 1968, it began operating in June 1970. Currently made up of 21 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and 13 private banks, it is one of the main sources of multilateral financing and an important generator of knowledge. for the region.
CAF is a multilateral financial institution whose mission is to support the sustainable development of its shareholder countries and regional integration. It serves the public and private sectors, providing multiple financial products and services to a broad client portfolio, made up of the governments of the shareholder States, financial institutions and public and private companies.
Its main activities are: acting as a financial intermediary, mobilizing resources from industrialized countries to the region, financing the development of productive infrastructure, promoting development, promoting trade and investments and supporting the business sector.
The CAF has its main headquarters in Caracas, it has offices in Asunción, Bogotá, Brasilia, Buenos Aires, La Paz, Lima, Mexico City, Madrid, Montevideo, Panama City, Port of Spain, Quito, San Salvador, Santiago de Chile, Santo Domingo and São Paulo.
History
The initiative that would give rise to CAF began to take shape in 1966, after the signing of the Bogotá Declaration by the presidents of Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, and the personal representatives of the first leaders of Ecuador and Peru, according to which a immediate action program for the Andean countries and Chile, which contemplated the application of economic integration measures and the coordination of the policies of the participating countries in commercial, industrial, financial matters and technical cooperation services. A Joint Commission was appointed to carry out these functions and the creation of a development corporation was proposed. The Andean Development Corporation (CAF).
During 1967, the Joint Commission clearly outlined the foundations of CAF. On February 7, 1968, the governments of the member countries signed their Constitutive Agreement at the San Carlos Palace in Bogotá, conceiving the entity as a multiple bank and agency for the promotion of development and Andean integration. Two years later, on June 8, 1970, CAF formally began operations, establishing its headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela.
The Cartagena Agreement, approved in May 1969 - one year after the Constitutive Agreement of CAF - established the political framework of the Andean subregional group and proposed the adoption of a joint model of economic, social and commercial development between countries that had similar characteristics. and that they sought to obtain the benefits that, in the regional integration scheme of the time (LAFTA), were generally reserved for the largest nations. To this end, it incorporated instruments related to the adoption of common strategies for industrial, energy, and agricultural development, as well as research and technological transfer, capital investment, construction of physical infrastructure and human trafficking, among others.
Bolivia and Ecuador were the first two countries that, in 1971, received loans from CAF for the execution of projects related to the installation of a rice storage network (US$ 1.3 million) and the construction of a fishing complex for the capture and freezing of tropical tuna (US$ 0.5 million). However, the first loan that materialized the integrationist vocation of the Organization was made a year later, and was granted to a Venezuelan project (US$ 3 million). The objective of this project was the construction of a bridge over the Limón River, in the State of Zulia, with the purpose of facilitating road connections with Colombia.
The decision to open its share capital to other partners from Latin America and the Caribbean, at the beginning of the 1990s, was a relevant fact that allowed it to expand, beyond the Andean borders, both CAF's integrationist vocation and its base. operational.
With the incorporation of Portugal there are now 18 shareholder countries of this institution. The formalization of the incorporation of that country, through the subscription of €15 million to the ordinary capital of the institution and €60 million to the guarantee capital, was carried out within the framework of the XIX Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, in Estoril. Currently, in addition to four countries of the Andean Community, its shareholders include: Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Spain, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela, and 15 private banks in the region.
On March 8, 2022, El Salvador joins as partner number 20 and the first as a full member. Honduras in turn follows this example and on July 18, 2022 officially joins, becoming partner number 21.
Member states
See also
References
- ↑ "Organization - Executive President | CAF". Archived from the original on 2015-05-05. Retrieved 2015-04-29.