This week, Conrad Albrecht, Managing Director of the Directorate of Sustainability of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), visited FONPLATA's headquarters in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. This took place within the framework of the previous approaches that initiated in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in 2023, during the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) annual meeting, where both organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding. EDB's on-site visit to FONPLATA contributed to the implementation of a joint work plan.

Albrecht explained that the importance of this partnership lies in the common objectives shared by both banks. The regions where they work include emerging, developing and, in some cases, landlocked countries. “We share many similarities and that is the most interesting part: two regional banks with very similar characteristics, but in different geographical contexts, facing the same challenges, also taking advantage of the synergies that we can explore together,” he said.

Thanks to the parallels between both institutions, FONPLATA's Economic Studies Area and EDB's Research Unit are currently developing a research paper on how to address the challenges for the socioeconomic development of landlocked developing countries in South America (Bolivia and Paraguay) and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan). “This is a topic fundamentally connected to the mandates of both banks, as it deals with regional integration to foster the development and global insertion of our countries,” stated FONPLATA's Vice President for Strategic Development, Oscar Llamosas.

During the visit, a series of meetings were held with the different areas of FONPLATA, where institutional and governance matters were addressed aiming at bringing the Banks closer together. Likewise, the challenges faced by both organizations and the strategies they use for their funding were shared, FONPLATA took the opportunity to inform about its traditional and compensated credit lines, which provide greater benefits regarding climate change, gender, and other issues.

As a result of these meetings, it was agreed that in the short term a knowledge exchange workshop will be held, where the EDB will share its experience on ESG ratings and FONPLATA, in turn, will share its cross-cutting gender strategy.

In addition, it was agreed to define a roadmap for the development of financial instruments, such as the creation of Sustainable Thematic Funds and an Exposure Exchange Agreement. It was also discussed the possibility and mutual interest for a potential shares exchange between the institutions in 2024.

As a conclusion of the visit, the Executive Vice President, Mariana Prado, stated that “FONPLATA is interested in working with institutions such as EDB with a view to broadening the relevance of our work within and outside the region.”

01/19/2024