The IDB warned that the additional investment would amount to [amount missing] per year and that failure to implement it would increase poverty in several countries in the region
AFP, Panama
Latin America and the Caribbean need an additional investment of more than $200 billion a year in infrastructure to meet the sustainable development goals by 2030, an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) official warned on Tuesday.
"There is a huge deficit in infrastructure and its quality; only a third of the roads are paved and one in four people do not have access to drinking water" in the region, said Jordan Schwartz, executive vice president of the IDB, at the opening of a meeting on "Public-Private Partnerships" in the Panamanian capital.
"To close the infrastructure gap and meet the sustainable development goals by 2030, the region needs an additional investment of more than $200 billion per year," Schwartz added.
Schwartz admitted that the amount needed "is enormous," since "it is equivalent to all the foreign direct investment that the region received in 2022," and explained that one difficulty in obtaining the resources "is the complex macroeconomic situation that the countries of the region are going through.".
"Sovereign debt has exceeded 70% of regional GDP (gross domestic product) and has almost doubled in the last 15 years," he said.
The 2030 development goals constitute an action plan approved by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 to eradicate poverty and protect the planet, among other goals.
If these investments are not made, Schwartz warned, economic development will be slowed and "most worrying" is that thousands of poor people will continue to lack access to public services.
However, the official suggested that these challenges could be overcome, since "the region is a leader in attracting private investment to infrastructure.".
The three-day meeting is attended by hundreds of officials, economists, and businesspeople from across the continent.
IDB contributions in the region
The IDB, created in 1959 and headquartered in Washington, has become the main international institution for long-term financing for the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Last year it approved $14 billion in loans, mostly related to water, energy and business development.
Photo: SHUTTERSTOCK
