Latin America and the Caribbean need an additional investment of more than US$ 200 billion a year in infrastructure to meet the sustainable development goals by 2030, an official warned Tuesday. Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
“There is a huge infrastructure and quality deficit; only a third of the roads are paved and one in four people does not have access to drinking water” in the region, pointed out the executive vice president of the IDB, jordan schwarzat the opening of a meeting on “Public-Private Association” in the Panamanian capital.
“To close the infrastructure gap and meet the sustainable development goals by 2030, the region needs additional investment of more than US$200 billion a year”, he added.
schwarz admitted that the necessary amount “it’s huge“, well “equivalent to all foreign direct investment that the region received in 2022″, and explained that a difficulty in obtaining the resources “is the complex macroeconomic situation that the countries of the region are going through”.
“Sovereign debt exceeded (equivalent to) 70% of the regional GDP (gross domestic product) and has almost doubled in the last 15 years”, he indicated.
The 2030 development goals constitute an action plan approved by the UN in 2015 to eradicate poverty and protect the planet, among other goals.
If these investments are not made, Schwartz warned, economic development will slow down and “the most worrying thing” is that thousands of poor people will continue without access to public services.
However, the official suggested that these challenges could be met, because “the region is a leader in attracting private investment in infrastructure”.
The three-day meeting is attended by hundreds of officials, economists and businessmen from all over the continent.
He IDBcreated in 1959 and headquartered in Washington, has become the main international long-term financing institution for the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Last year it approved $14 billion in loans on projects mostly related to water, energy and business development.
Source: AFP
Source: Gestion
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