>@Mercedes Landete/EIB

The operation was signed today in Asunción, where the EIB is attending the Inter-American Development Bank's annual meeting.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide USD 82m to finance the construction of new two lanes per direction on the road connecting the Confital and Bombeo areas, forming part of the east-west corridor. This important route links the country's three largest cities – La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz – while also connecting Bolivia with Brazil, Peru and Chile. To this end, the project will improve links both within the country and abroad. EIB Vice-President and head of Latin America Román Escolano and Bolivian Planning and Development Minister Mariana Prado signed the agreement today in Asunción, where the Inter-American Development Bank's annual meeting is being held.

The loan signed today will make it possible to implement the investments needed to widen 44 km of road in the Cochabamba department to two lanes per direction and will have a positive economic and social impact. This EIB-backed project will improve road transport connections with other countries, thereby facilitating exports. At the same time it will make it possible to alleviate the heavy traffic across the area, as journeys will be faster and safer. Work will begin this year.

This is the second project in Bolivia to be financed by the EIB. The first loan, signed three years ago, provided USD 68m to finance another major road between Uyuni and Tupiza, on that occasion on the corridor linked the south and centre of the country.

At the signing ceremony, EIB Vice-President Román Escolano highlighted the following: “the EIB is providing favourable financing terms for an important project that will make it possible to support infrastructure development in Bolivia. This is one of the European Union's objectives in Latin America, to which the EIB, as the EU bank, contributes with loans promoting sustainable economic growth and social development across the region.

The EIB loan signed today with the Plurinational State of Bolivia is covered by the EU guarantee agreement and is granted under the EU Latin America lending mandate 2014-2020.

The EIB Vice-President and head of Latin America is in Paraguay to attend the Inter-American Development Bank's 2017 annual meeting in Asunción. During his visit to the Paraguayan capital, the EIB Vice-President is also meeting with economy, finance and development ministers from various Latin American countries, as well as with representatives from several Latin American and international financial institutions, with the aim of continuing to work to strengthen cooperation between the European Union and Latin America.

The EIB in Latin America

The European Union is Latin America's main economic development partner and the EIB, as the EU bank, supports cooperation between both regions by financing projects that help meet EU foreign policy objectives: economic development, social and environmental infrastructure, private sector development and tackling climate change.

The EIB provides economic support for projects in Latin America by facilitating long-term investment with favourable conditions and by providing the technical support needed to ensure that these projects deliver positive social, economic and environmental results.

Since the EIB began operations in Latin America in 1993, it has facilitated financing for 100 projects in 14 different countries in the region, with total investment of EUR 7bn. In 2016, the EU bank provided EUR 519m to implement various projects in Brazil, Ecuador and Panama.