$20bn regional integration fund announced for Caribbean, Latin America

CAF – the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean – has announced a US$10bn ($20bn) investment through 2031 to accelerate regional integration and boost economic resilience.

The announcement was made by CAF executive president Sergio Díaz-Granados following the high-level International Forum on Regional Integration held in Cartagena.

The fund will target critical areas, including physical and digital infrastructure, the energy transition, intra‑regional trade, food security, tourism, and logistics. The initiative is designed to bridge socio‑economic gaps and sharpen the region’s competitive edge amid a fracturing global geopolitical landscape.

“Integration is a development, competitiveness, and global positioning imperative for Latin America and the Caribbean,” Díaz-Granados said, urging nations to deepen ties to counter trade fragmentation and financial volatility.

“Regional integration has already achieved important progress, but it must now enter a more ambitious phase of implementation. Fewer barriers, more infrastructure. Fewer diagnoses, more projects.”

The forum featured strong representation from Caribbean leadership, signalling a unified front for cross‑regional development. High-level discussions included insights from CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General Ambassador Wayne McCook, Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Governor Timothy Antoine, and Ian Durant, director of economics at the Caribbean Development Bank.

Other key contributors included Martín Portillo of the regional development insurer Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility Segregated Portfolio Company (CCRIF SPC) and Natalie McGuire from the Barbados Museum & Historical Society, who all joined the dialogue on building practical pathways for regional alignment.

In a bid to streamline development efforts, 15 major regional institutions signed the “Declaration on the Convergence of the Processes and Mechanisms of Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean”.

The pact aims to actively coordinate capabilities, align strategic agendas and prevent duplication across existing regional bodies. High-profile signatories to the declaration included the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (OTCA), the Organisation of Ibero-American States (OEI) and the Latin American Energy Organisation (OLADE).

The US$10bn pledge builds on CAF’s long-term commitment to the region. Over the past 30 years, the bank has approved 118 credit operations totalling US$16.73bn ($33.5bn) dedicated strictly to regional integration initiatives. 

This new envelope marks a significant scaling up of operations over the next five years to transition from policy discussion to concrete infrastructure deployment, ecosystem preservation, and digital transformation.

(RR)