– Strengthening of Caribbean membership continues as board meets in Lima, Peru
LIMA, Peru – CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean has approved the incorporation of St Vincent and the Grenadines as a Series C shareholder country, further extending the reach of the bank’s development financing to the Caribbean.
The decision was taken during CAF’s board of directors meeting in Lima, Peru, where the Board also approved USD 1.130 billion for new operations across the region in areas such as water security, citizen security, response capacity to natural disasters and debt management. The meeting also marked Trinidad and Tobago’s handover of the chairmanship of the board to Uruguay, concluding its term as chair and its historic role as the first English-speaking CARICOM country to preside over CAF’s board of directors.
With this approval, St Vincent and the Grenadines will be able to access CAF’s agile and flexible development financing instruments, technical cooperation, and knowledge programmes designed to respond to the specific needs of small island developing states.
This latest incorporation follows recent approvals by the board for Dominica, Saint Lucia, Haiti, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, all of which are at different stages of completing their incorporation process. These decisions reflect CAF’s continued commitment to channelling agile and flexible financing to all CARICOM countries as the bank fulfils its mandate to advance regional integration and sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
CAF executive president Sergio Díaz-Granados welcomed the decision.
“St Vincent and the Grenadines is joining a development bank that understands the realities of Caribbean small states and the development challenges of multi-island states, in particular. We are indeed pleased to deepen our partnership with St Vincent and the Grenadines and are committed to providing practical, tailored financing solutions so that the government can deliver on its promise to the communities in the various islands,” he said. “CAF is continuing to deepen its engagement in the region to support climate-resilient infrastructure, productive transformation, as well as sustainable and inclusive growth. We are pleased to welcome St Vincent and the Grenadines into our CAF family of shareholder countries.”
Since establishing its regional office for the Caribbean in 2022, CAF has more than tripled its shareholder countries from the Caribbean. At the same time, the bank continues to channel increased grant resources and investments across the Caribbean in areas such as water security, energy transition, digital transformation, heritage tourism, technical and vocational education, private sector development, and the blue and green economy.
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