– as he makes second official visit
PRESIDENT of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Mr. Luis Alberto Moreno, and staff from the bank arrived in Guyana last Friday evening to commence a one-day visit to the country that included a meeting with Guyana’s new President, Donald Ramotar.
The meeting convened yesterday at Office of the President, where officials of the Government provided a brief to the visiting delegation on the preparatory works and challenges of the Amaila Falls Hydropower project.
In an invited comment after the meeting, the IDB President told the Government Information Agency (GINA) that he acknowledges the significant importance with which the country regards the project and the challenges that abound.
The partnership between Guyana and the IDB spans over three decades and was hailed by Moreno who said “the Government of Guyana has been very complimentary of the work the Bank has been doing here over the years and we hope to continue.”
Upon his arrival at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, Mr. Moreno was welcomed by Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh who updated him and his team on recent economic developments in Guyana, and lauded the Bank’s support to this country’s development efforts, including in such areas as infrastructural development and institutional reform.
Minister Singh also saluted the long-standing relationship between the Bank and Guyana, and extended special thanks to President Moreno for the close attention paid by his presidency to the Bank’s smaller members such as Guyana and the other Caribbean countries.
Currently, the IDB supports a project portfolio of US$250 million in Guyana covering a wide range of sectoral interventions, including infrastructural development, competitiveness, justice reform, health, education and agriculture among others.
The IDB also granted Guyana debt relief amounting to US$365M in the context of the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative in March 2007, a testimony to its confidence in the management of Guyana’s economy and the strong and stable macro-economic environment which Government has been able to create and maintain.
Minister Singh, who was part of yesterday’s meeting, described the IDB as ‘an outstanding development partner and has supported in an extremely commendable fashion, Government’s development efforts.’
“Over the years as you look at various aspects of our development programme, whether it be development in infrastructure, investments in social services, institutional reforms… the IDB has been supportive and has provided valuable, concessionable resources in support of Government’s efforts,” Minister Singh said.
As an active member of the IDB, Guyana has over the years engaged closely with the bank and at its 50th anniversary, the ‘Guyana and the IDB – Partners for Progress’ publication was unveiled.
Moreno assumed the presidency of the Inter-American Development Bank on October 1, 2005. He was re-elected to a five-year term during a special meeting of the Bank’s Board of Governors on July 6, 2010. As president of the Bank, Moreno also serves as Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) and Chairman of the Donors’ Committee of the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF).