The executive president of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), Gisela Sánchez, defended before the European Union that the entity is a “reliable partner in Central America to deepen relations and generate business opportunities for European companies” in the region.
The European partners, for their part, “Come with very good eyes and great expectations” the possibility of expanding collaboration, Sánchez said in an interview with EFE as part of a European tour of Spain, France and Belgium that has led him to meet in recent days with EU institutions, government entities, cooperation agencies and the private sector.
According to him, what “differentiates” CABEI – with 63 years of existence, 15 member countries and a subscribed capital of 7 billion dollars – is that the entity does not only transfer “problems” to Europe. to those who need help, but also “solutions” and “resources”.
“This is where we have a perhaps innovative role to play, saying ‘these are the conditions and the challenges of the region, but also the big opportunities for European businesses and these are the viable solutions (…) we are working on and where we need support to do more ambitious things,” he said.
CABEI, he added, can “open doors” and to be the “financial arm” that supports European companies so that they better understand the opportunities and challenges of the region and “how these companies can play a leading role in the solutions to be implemented.”
“Robust” project portfolio
In this sense, Sánchez considered that the visit to Europe was “fundamental for the strengthening of ties” with the EU and allowed to generate a “robust portfolio” of projects for the coming months.
CABEI, recalled its president, is implementing the first project in Central America funded with the support of the European Global Gateway overseas investment programme, focused on the recovery of Lake Yojoa, the most important in Honduras.
And others are being evaluated, such as the metropolitan train in Costa Rica, which has “great potential for impact on citizens and to improve the business climate”, the one for waste management in the Motagua River in Guatemala, or another to carry out a new phase of the Central American electricity integration system, on which the bank has been working for some time and which the EU “is interested in supporting”.
Sánchez stressed that CABEI can approve projects for around $3 billion a year and disburse around $2 billion, but “the needs of the countries are much greater.” “That’s why it’s so important to generate these strategic alliances. with European actors to complement what we can do,” he said.
Capital increase
The bank plans to carry out its ninth capital increase, with which it seeks to increase it to around 10 billion dollars. The coming months and 2025 will therefore be “crucial to explore the possibility of inviting a new member to CABEI,” said Sánchez. who assured that they considered “very favorably” the possibility of having a new European member.
Spain is now the only EU country to be a shareholder in the entity (with 4.19%).
The executive chairman of CABEI stressed that this year they managed to lower the interest rates they offer to countries for the first time in the last three years and that they are trying to “seize every opportunity to reduce them.” a task in which working with the EIB allows us to have “much more adequate” conditions.
However, he stressed that cooperation in terms of knowledge and good practices is just as important as financial conditions, for example in regional integration, where the EU is “the great expert at global level”.
CABEI’s collaboration with the EU has enabled manage $105.1 million for initiatives such as the Special Fund for the Social Transformation of Central America and the Border Area Development Programme, in addition to co-financing projects worth 113.3 million euros in the areas of renewable energy, water, sanitation and infrastructure.
The relationship with the EIB includes loan facilities and contracts for $493.5 million, according to CABEI.
