Links: International Financial Institutions and IIRSA

IIRSA

• Official website: www.iirsa.org 
  This is the official website of the IIRSA Initiative. Here you can find information about the structure of IIRSA and copies of presentations by the groups in charge of the integration hubs and the committees that control the initiative.

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

• Official website: http://www.iadb.org/
  The Inter-American Development Bank gives loans to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. It also has two separate branches that finance private sector initiatives: The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) and the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC). The IDB strongly supports IIRSA and the leader of the banks involved in the initiative.
• Web page to search for IDB project information: http://www.iadb.org/projects/index.cfm?language=English 
  This is the page where you can search for information about projects financed by the IDB. There are a number of different indicators that can be used to make the search. These include the official number of the project (created by the IDB), the project name, a country (Argentina, Peru, etc) and so on.
• Web page to search for IDB project documents: http://www.iadb.org/projects/projectDocuments/searchdocsindex.cfm?language=En&parid=2 
  Here you can search for different specific documents associated with IDB projects, including Environmental Impact Studies, loan documents and others.

The Andean Finance Corporation (CAF)

• Official website: http://www.caf.com
  The Andean Finance Corporation (CAF) is one of the most active multilateral development banks in IIRSA. It has financed more IIRSA projects than the IDB and the World Bank put together. It doesn’t have real environmental or social policies, like the IDB and the World Bank, so therefore it can quickly and easily finance any type of project, without having to consider the social and environmental impacts that it might have. The CAF doesn’t have disclosure policies either, and for this reason it is one of the least transparent banks in IIRSA. Apart from its press releases, it does not publish any information about its loans and projects.

World Bank

• Official website: http://www.worldbank.org
  The World Bank Group (WBG) is formed by four entities: 1) the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and 2) the International Development Association (IDA) normally loan directly to the governments of client countries and are together called “The World Bank”. 3) The International Finance Corporation is the arm of the WBG that finances the private sector. It has financed IIRSA projects and it is likely that they will continue doing so in the future. Brazil is the IFC’s principal client. 4) The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), provides guarantees to the private sector so that foreign firms will invest in “underdeveloped” countries. The World Bank is NOT an official member of IIRSA, but it has financed projects that are part of the initiative and on the list of official IIRSA projects.
• Web page to search for World Bank Projects (Only the IBRD and IDA): http://www.worldbank.org/projects/  
  Here you can search for information about all the projects financed by the IBRD and IDA. One can select the country, the type of loan and other indicators to do an advanced search. The IBRD is the branch of the World Bank that is most active in Latin America and has financed a number of IIRSA projects.
• Web page to search for documents on IFC projects: http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/IFCExt/spiwebsite1.nsf/$$Search?Openform 
  This is the IFC web page where you can search for information and documents about projects financed by the institution. There are a variety of indicators that can be used to do an advanced search.
• Web page of the office of the Compliance Advisory Ombudsman (CAO) of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA): http://www.cao-ombudsman.org/
  This is the official website of the CAO, which receives formal complaints about projects financed by the IFC or MIGA. Here you can make a claim about problematic projects that have been financed by the IFC or MIGA. You can also read the official CAO reports about other claims and contact CAO personnel.
• Web page of the World Bank Inspection Panel: http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/ipn/ipnweb.nsf
  The web site for the World Bank Inspection Panel offers information about claims made about projects financed by the IBRD and IDA in the World Bank Group. Here you can submit a claim about a project financed by these branches of the World Bank and read news about claims being investigated. Unfortunately the web sit and the form to make a claim are currently only available in English.

Brazilian National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES)

• Official website: http://www.bndes.gov.br/ 
  BNDES, like the World Bank, does not form an official part of the IIRSA initiative, but it has financed a variety of IIRSA projects and is very active in the region. BNDES loans more money annually than the World Bank and is still growing. Like the CAF, it doesn’t have social and environmental policies, nor does it have a disclosure policy, and information and official documents about its loans and projects are not available on its website. The only sources of information about bank activities are the bank’s press releases.

Fund for the Development of the Silver River Basin (FONPLATA)

• Official website: http://www.fonplata.org/ 
  FONPLATA is an official member of IIRSA and participates in the initiative’s Committee of Executive Direction and the Committee of Technical Coordination, but until now it has not financed IIRSA projects. It operates in the MERCOSUR-Chile region and it is probable that it could start investing in the initiative in the future.

The European Investment Bank (EIB)

• Official website: http://www.eib.org/ 
  The European Investment Bank normally gives loans to members of the EU, but it has begun lending money to countries in other regions. It doesn’t have strong environmental, social or disclosure policies, but certain loan information is available on its website.