The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) held its 47th Annual Ordinary Meeting of Assembly of Governors in Tegucigalpa, Honduras from March 22-23, 2007. Mr. Chen Cheng-Chung, the Secretary General of the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) and Mr. Harry E. Brautigan, the President of the CABEI signed a loan agreement in the amount of USD 10 million for a fund established for poverty reduction which funding subprojects under the Special Fund for the Social Transformation of Central America. Mr. Fai-Nan Perng, the Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of China witnessed the signing ceremony, and Mr. Harry E. Brautigan also delivered a speech in appreciation of the friendly participation and constructive contribution the TaiwanICDF has made toward sustainable development in Central American countries.

In its role mobilizing finance and investment in Central America, the CABEI is responsible for helping member countries resolve problems of heavy debts and advance down the road to development.

In keeping with the objectives of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) project, which aims to half world poverty by 2015, the CABEI is helping HIPC member countries lower their poverty levels in two phases.
Phase I is an attempt to decrease the government debts of Nicaragua and Honduras by donating funds or exempting them from their debts.
Phase II consists of the Special Fund for the Social Transformation of Central America set up in 2002, which aims at improving basic living conditions and social development in HIPC countries with limited government funds. This concessional loan assists Nicaragua and Honduras in expending their basic social infrastructures, and benefits the people through poverty reduction.

The TaiwanICDF began the first stage of its participation in the Special Fund for the Social Transformation of Central America in 2004. In this first stage four projects, including the Low-Income Housing Project and Integral Health Attention Program for Children in Nicaragua, and the Satellite Markets Program in the Central District Municipality of Tegucigalpa and Honduras Quetzal Corridor Project in Honduras were selected for TaiwanICDF funding. This year the TaiwanICDF will again contribute to the Fund to benefit the economic and social development of Central American HIPC countries.

The TaiwanICDF relies on the specialized knowledge and aid experiences of the CABEI to choose and evaluate the feasibility of social infrastructure projects in areas such as healthcare, education, housing planning, urban development, environmental sustainability, and micro business expansion. We screened the projects, evaluated and proposed by the CABEI, and select appropriated projects for TaiwanICDF funding. The implementation of project will be under close monitory of the country office.

As the second stage of our participation in the Fund, the TaiwanICDF will include a subproject, aimed at narrowing the digital divide, which, it is hoped, will enable Nicaragua and Honduras to incorporate Information Technology into education, in order to elevate labor standards based on Taiwan's expertise in this area.

Nicaragua and Honduras have now reached the completion point required by the World Bank, which means the efforts of the TaiwanICDF and other international organizations have borne fruit. Moreover, once a country has reached the completion point and maintained macroeconomic stability, the country's creditors will then provide unconditional debt relief.
Once they have achieved this, the governments of Nicaragua and Honduras will have more freedom to finance social development.
CABEI is established in 1985 in Central America Area. In May 2005, CABEI's SMME Strategy was approved by its Board of Directors. Under this Strategy, CABEI focused to facilitate SMME's access to financial services, strengthen the development of financial services servicing the SMME, and contribute to the development, growth and productivity of SMME. The Republic of China, as non-regional member of the CABEI, which's image will be enhanced among the multilateral institutions promoted the viability of TaiwanICDF and Taiwan's participation by working together with CABEI to proactively participate in poverty reduction efforts.

• Update: 2018/03/01
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