MADRID, CMC – The Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group) launched the Bid for the Americas program in Europe to foster business opportunities and more robust economic ties between European countries, Latin America, and the Caribbean (LAC).
It said the program seeks to present opportunities for companies from the IDB Group’s European member countries in procurement, trade, investment, and co-financing while providing a better understanding of how the IDB Group can support European partners in this endeavor.
Bilateral trade between member countries from Latin America and the Caribbean and European members stood at Euro 305 billion (one Euro = US$1.29 cents) in 2022, of which Euro 143 billion were European exports to the region.
Foreign direct investment flows (FDI) from Europe to the region averaged nearly Euro 30 billion annually over the last five years.
The European launch of BID for the Americas occurred at an event in Casa de América in Madrid, attended by more than 200 European business leaders, high-level government officials, and diplomats.
IDB president Ilan Goldfajn, Nadia Calviño, president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), and Carlos Cuerpo, minister of economy, trade, and business of Spain, addressed the event.
“We are pleased to launch BID for the Americas in Europe, a new program that will serve as the bridge for European companies to access business opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Building on a unique and cutting-edge platform, our program seeks to connect European companies with procurement, trade and investment, and co-financing opportunities,” said Goldfajn during the event.
“The private sector has a key role in enhancing the scale and impact of our work in fostering sustainable development in the region. With BID for the Americas, we’re presenting a new and transformative channel to boost that role,” he added.
The event featured discussion panels that explored challenges and opportunities for European investment in Latin America and the Caribbean in three areas: regional sustainable infrastructure, digitalization and inclusion, and clean energy.
As part of the event, the IDB Group organized a series of workshops for European trade and investment promotion agencies and business associations representing all 16 European non-borrowing member countries. The workshops delved deeper into the different tools and resources that the BID for the Americas program offers to bring European companies closer to the region.
The IDB Group, composed of the IDB, IDB Invest, and IDB Lab, is the primary source of financing, technical expertise, and knowledge for sustainable and inclusive development in the region.
In 2023, it approved more than US$24 billion in financing and resource mobilization.
IDB officials presented a Project Procurement Tender Brief summarizing more than 70 procurement opportunities for European companies interested in various IDB-financed projects during the event.
The IDB finances an annual average of US$4.4 billion in project procurement, generating more than 12,000 contracts in the health, water, energy, transportation, agriculture, and digital infrastructure.
European companies can also unlock untapped trade and investment opportunities in the region. The iDB said that while bilateral trade between Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean grew at an average annual rate of six percent between 2002 and 2022, there is ample space for growth.
It said the accumulated foreign direct investment stock of IDB European member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean is estimated at more than Euro 600 billion.
BID for the Americas also focuses on mobilizing resources for transformative projects, particularly in infrastructure, ranging from transportation networks to digital infrastructure.
Since its launch in Washington in September 2023, BID for the Americas has held business roadshows in Miami, New York, Tokyo, and Los Angeles.
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