4 investment banks announced during a meeting of leaders of the Mercosur trade bloc that they will allocate USD 10 billion for infrastructure works aimed at better connecting South America, including financing for port, airport, road, rail and energy transmission projects.
The “pathways to South American integration” initiative was launched in Rio de Janeiro where host Brazil presented a plan that includes more than 120 projects, many of them in northern Brazil on the borders with Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname.
The funds will come from the Inter-American Development Bank with 3.4 billion dollars, the development bank for Latin America and the Caribbean with 3 billion dollars, the Brazilian Development Bank with another 3 billion dollars, and fonplata, a bank owned by Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay with an additional 600 million dollars.
Aloisio Mercadante, president of the Brazilian Development Bank, said that his foundation would finance works “from the border inside Brazil” and other banks would pay for projects “from the border abroad”.
“It is the largest fund ever created for South American integration and for Mercosur in Mercosur’s history,”Mercadante said.
The Brazilian Ministry of planning and Budget said in a statement that the new infrastructure is aimed at “significantly reducing the time of cargo transportation between Brazil and Asia”.
