The annual meeting of the Assembly of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is taking place this week, and the agenda is ambitious. On the one hand, its President Ilan Goldfajn has been implementing a proposal to reform the institution since last year, which is to be adopted at the event. On the other hand, central problems of the reality of the 48 member countries, such as insecurity and climate change, are discussed in seminars that bring the private sector together with the public.
The majority of governors who make up the Assembly, the highest body of the IDB, are ministers of finance and economy, presidents of central banks or high-ranking officials of the respective countries in the Americas. The event will also bring together executives from the private sector and civil society representatives, with more than 3,000 participants expected. The event will take place March 6-11 in the city of Punta Canta in the Dominican Republic, a country that has not hosted the event since 1992.
The assembly is expected to vote on proposals put forward to strengthen collaboration between the IDB, the bank's private arm, IDB Invest, and its financial innovation laboratory, IDB Lab. The three organizations form the IDB group. This will involve voting on a number of operational and institutional changes presented to the IDB Board of Directors in October. At a press conference in December, Goldfajn described his program as a cultural change within the bank.
“Our new focus on effectiveness and development outcomes also requires a cultural change within the bank,” he said. “Fostering a culture of impact rather than borrowed amounts requires changing incentives and processes: a global transformation.” Next year, it will be important to drive the changes that will help us achieve this goal.” Goldfajn was founded in November 2022 elected president of the IDB.
The Assembly will hold thematic seminars bringing together business leaders, bankers, officials and members of civil organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The urgency of investing in education, the transition from hydrocarbons to clean energy, innovation in agriculture and food systems, citizen security, financing to curb climate change and biodiversity loss are some of the topics to be discussed.
Of the 48 member countries, the IDB has 26 borrower countries, all in Latin America and the Caribbean, which receive just over 50% of voting rights on the institution's board. Ratings agency Fitch Ratings estimates that the IDB disbursed $10.5 billion in loans for development projects in the region last year. In an interview with Portal in October last year, Goldfajn revealed that IDB Group could expand its lending capacity to $112 billion within a decade, including its public and private arms.
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