Caputo met with the President of the IDB at the opening of the 2017 Annual Meeting

Luis Caputo is having a tough agenda of activities in Paraguay where the IDB Annual Meeting will take place next Sunday.


March 31, 2017

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, participated this Friday in the first day of activities of the 2017 Inter-American Development Bank Annual Meeting conducted in Asuncion.

After his arrival to the Capital of Paraguay, Caputo held a meeting with the President of the IDB, Luis Alberto Moreno, who has presided over the Board of Directors of the Bank since October 2005. After the meeting, Mr. Minister said: “The IDB is a strategic ally for our country in the path of growth, the development of infrastructure and the creation of the jobs we need”.

The Finance Minister also held a meeting with the Chief Operating Officer, Senior Managing Director and Director at Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Nobumitsu Hayashi, and they talked about the financing possibilities for the country.

Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is a financial institution that belongs to the Japanese Government and it is aimed at contributing with the development of international economy, promoting development and providing the necessary financial services to avoid disruptions in the international financial order.

In addition, as Governor of the multilateral organization, the Minister of Finance will participate this afternoon in the Business Dialogue of the Americas with business men from the region. At night, he will be attending a reception organized by the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC).

The Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) is a multilateral organization, member of the IDB Group, which promotes the development in Latin-America and the Caribbean, through the private sector and State-owned firms, providing financing by means of loans, capital investment and guarantees.

The Chief of Cabinet of the Ministry of Finance, Pablo Quirno; the Secretary of Finance, Santiago Bausili; the Undersecretary of International Financial Relations, Martin Soto; and the Argentine representative before the IDB, Raul Novoa, also participated in the events.

Argentina and France strengthen their bilateral economic relations at the opening of activities of the French Development Agency


March 30, 2017

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, met this Thursday with the Minister of Economy and Finance of France, Michel Sapin, to strengthen economic relations between both countries.

At the working meeting, the beginning of activities of the French Development Agency (AFD) was announced.

Michel Sapin highlighted the strong bonds between both countries and, in particular, the number of investment of French firms in Argentina.

Luis Caputo said: “We continue working on creating the conditions for growth and more employment. Within such framework, an agreement like this one, with a fellow country like France, helps us to develop the infrastructure we need in order to be more competitive and to create the jobs that Argentinians need. I would like to highlight the continuous support provided by France over the years within the international financial context”.

The Agency’s beginning of activities, which will focus on the financing of infrastructure works, in particular water infrastructure, strengthens the bilateral cooperation relations. As backgrounds, we can mention the visit of the President of France in February 2016 and the Agency’s diplomatic visit to Argentina in October of that same year.

The meeting allowed both Ministers to make progress in a number of pending issues related to the bilateral agenda with the objective of strengthening the financial relations of both countries.

The AFD is a financial institution aimed at the cooperation with developing and emerging countries in their fight against poverty. The AFD contributes to economic and social growth through financing of development projects, in particular infrastructure. In theory, the AFD should be involved with Argentina in the co-financing with multilateral or regional banks to develop water infrastructure in the country.

France is one of the big foreign investors in Argentina. There are about 250 French firms registered in Argentina. These firms hire around 50,000 employees, mainly in the distribution, automotive, energy, health and financial and technology services sectors. Over the last year, French firms have made numerous investments, supporting the modernization strategy of Mauricio Macri’s Government.

Since December 2015, De Sangosse, Louis Dreyfus, Total, PSA, Renault and Sanofi Pasteur have announced investments for more than 1 billion dollars, showing the confidence French firms have in Argentina’s potential for growth.

Minister Caputo travels to Paraguay to participate in the Inter-American Development Bank Annual Meeting

Argentina hosting the next Annual Meeting 2018 will be also announced.


March 30, 2017

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, will be travelling this Friday to the City of Asuncion where he will be participating of the Annual Meeting of Governors of the IDB, as Governor before said organization. In addition, within this context, Caputo will be holding a tough agenda of bilateral meetings.
The delegation of the Ministry of Finance includes: the Chief of Cabinet of the Ministry, Pablo Quirno; the Secretary of Finance, Santiago Bausili; and the Undersecretary of International Financial Relations, Martin Soto. In addition, the Argentine representative before the IDB, Raul Novoa, will also be present.

Friday, March 31

• During the first day of the event, Caputo will arrive to the Capital of Paraguay, where he will be holding meetings with the President of the IDB and the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC). Likewise, he will be holding a working meeting with the delegation of the European Investment Bank, led by the Vice-president, Roman Escoleano.

• After that, he will be participating of a multilateral meeting with the Minister of Planning, Development and Administration of Brazil, Dyogo Henrique Oliveira, and the Secretary of Treasury and Public Credit of Mexico, Jose Antonio Meade Kuribeña, in which they will be talking about the reshaping of the economic agenda for the region.

• In addition, Caputo will be holding a meeting with the Pacific Alliance Ministers: Mauricio Cardenas, Minister of Treasury and Public Credit of Colombia; Alfredo Eduardo Thorme Vetter, Minister of Economy and Finance of Peru; Alejandro Micco Aguayo, Undersecretary of Treasury of Chile; and Jose Antonio Meade Kuribreña from Mexico. His Brazilian peer will also be joining the meeting.

• On Saturday noon, the Technical Preparatory Meeting of Ministers of Finance is taking place. It will be led by Luis Caputo and the participants will be debating on the issues to be discussed at the IDB Ministerial Meeting conducted in October.

• Later, the announcement of Argentina hosting the next Annual Meeting 2018 will take place. There will be a stand representing the country’s typical traditions and Minister Caputo will give a speech.

• In the afternoon, the Finance Minister will be participating of the Special Meeting of Governors and he will be holding a meeting with Juan Notaro, President of the Financial Fund for the Development of the Rio de La Plata Basin (FONPLATA), at which they will talk about the financing to modernize the Government and support Provinces affected by the El Niño current. Mr. Minister will be also attending to the inaugural session and he will be meeting with different investors and financial institutions.

Sunday, April 2

• Finally, on Sunday, April 2, Caputo will be participating of the Governors photo and he will be attending to the Joint Meeting of the Committees of the IDB and the IIC where participants will discuss the projects of the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the IDB Group, which Inter-American Forum on Microenterprise (Foromic) will take place this year in Argentina.

• At noon, the Finance Minister will be attending the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), presided over by the Acting Director of the Latin-America, Caribbean and Europe Region Department, Miguel Linares, and the Official Responsible of the public sector operations, Natalia Salazar.

• Likewise, Mr. Minister will be holding a bilateral meeting with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of International Affairs of the U.S. Treasury, Eric Meyer, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere and South Asia of the U.S. Treasury, Michael Kaplan. After that, he will be meeting with Canada’s assistant deputy minister of Global Issues and Development, Sarah Fountain Smith.

• Finally, at the closing session, Argentina hosting the 2018 IDB Annual Meeting will become official.

The World Bank approved USD125 million for Belgrano Plan

The loan is aimed at the extension of water and sanitation works that will benefit more than 450,000 people.


March 25, 2017

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), original institution of the World Bank to help developing countries, approved this Friday the license for a USD125-million loan aimed at the “Development of Drinking Water and Sanitation Services Belgrano Plan”. It is the extension of infrastructure works for the provision and sanitation of water contemplated in Belgrano Plan which is being developed in the North of the country.

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, as Argentine Governor before the World Bank, said this guarantee “is an important tool for the development of infrastructure in Argentina. We need better routes, communications, and housing conditions to be competitive, to create jobs and to grow”. Mr. Minster added that “from the Ministry of Finance we constantly work to guarantee the best financial conditions to finance the growth Argentina needs”.

The 32.5 year-credit has a grace period of 7 years and it will benefit 450,000 Argentinians that will have better access to sanitary and drinking water provision services.

This financing completes the “Second Project of Water Infrastructure of Norte Grande” that began in 2011 with the objective of increasing sustainable access to sanitation services and water provision in the North of the country.

The Director of the World Bank for Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, Jesko Hentschel said that: “access to drinking water for the Northern population of Argentina is crucial to reduce poverty and set the basis for a sustainable growth in some of the most vulnerable regions of the country”.

The National Government will complete the investment with a contribution of 25 million dollars. This way, the project will allow extending the works being done within the context of Belgrano Plan in the Provinces of Chaco, Formosa, Tucumán, Catamarca, Salta, Jujuy, Santiago del Estero, Corrientes, Misiones and La Rioja.

Works include the construction, rehabilitation and extension of drinking water distribution networks and sanitation of waste-water systems. These works will also reach remote urban settlements of the above-mentioned Provinces.

Therefore, the Belgrano Plan seeks to reduce the inequality among different regions of the country regarding infrastructure, in order to eliminate extreme poverty and allow the access to basic services for the most vulnerable population of the North of the country.