The Colombian Sergio Díaz-Granados assumed the Executive Presidency of CAF, Development Bank of Latin America. In an act of Transmission of Command held yesterday at the headquarters of CAF, located in Caracas, Venezuela, with the presence of the Executive Vice President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez; the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, Félix Plasencia, and high authorities, diplomatic corps and officials of the institution. During the ceremony he announced that the priority in the next 100 days of management will be the promotion of the economic and social reactivation of Latin Americans by boosting productivity and promoting sustainable and resilient infrastructures.
“We have to face the challenge of the COVID-19 crisis, the economy reactivation and recover the lost time in education of our generation. This year has been critical for the 50% of the young people in Latin America, and if we don’t fix this situation, it would be impossible to fix in the future. We have a great opportunity to beef up our regional value chains and make the trade a source of income and employment. Finally, another challenge is digital transformation; the growth to come has to be sustainable and based on digital transformation”, says Sergio Díaz-Granados.
The Venezuelan authorities ratified their support for CAF and the management of the new Executive President and also highlighted the importance of the institution both in financing infrastructure, energy, water and sanitation projects, as well as the institution´s role in promoting regional integration. In the same way, they stressed the importance of international cooperation, opportunities to deepen relationships and joint work for the benefit of the most vulnerable.
The regional development agenda set by Díaz-Granados also includes working to make CAF the green bank in Latin America, fulfilling the catalytic role of attracting investment to the region through the promotion of sustainable growth and the circular economy with greater financing of projects on environmental, forestry, water, climate, waste management, energy efficiency and sustainable agriculture, among others.
Another strategic point will be to deepen support to the private sector to increase productivity and job creation; together with cross-cutting policies for gender equity, inclusion and diversity. As well, integration projects will be promoted, especially cross-border trade, logistics corridors, energy efficiency projects and a digital agenda; Additionally, as pre-investment funds for studies and projects will be promoted.
Sergio Díaz-Granados is a lawyer and specialist in government and finance from the “Universidad Externado de Colombia”, with postgraduate studies in Public Management for Social Development accomplish at INAP (Spain). He completed higher studies in Constitutional Law, taught by the “Universidad de Salamanca” (Spain). He was Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, Vice Minister of Business Development and President of the Boards of Directors of Bancoldex and PROCOLOMBIA. He was a congressman and chairman of the Economic Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives. Before joining CAF, he served as Executive Director for Colombia and Peru in the BID Group.
CAF is a leading institution in Latin America and one of the main sources of multilateral financing for the region, with annual approvals that exceed USD 14 billion for development and regional integration. Since the beginning of its operations in 1970, the institution has approved more than USD 200 billion to improve the quality of life of Latin Americans. Similarly, CAF has established itself as an important think tank with a global vision and a link between Latin America and the rest of the world.
