Panama City, (EFE).- To reduce the gap with the rest of the developing countries and face the “historic backwardness” that the region suffers, the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean should invest twice as much in infrastructure, says the president of the organization, Ilan Goldfajn.
“We should at least double our current level of investment in infrastructure,” summarized the Brazilian at the inauguration of a series of seminars on the region’s priorities, which precede the Board of Governors to be held this weekend in Panama City .
According to data from the IDB, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has invested less in infrastructure than other developing regions in recent decades, 1.8% of its GDP, less than half that of the emerging economies of Asia, for example. .
Thus, the development bank estimates, the region would need to allocate at least 3.12% of GDP over 10 years to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly.
Infrastructure will be one of the topics that will be discussed during the annual IDB meeting, in talks that will insist on the importance of “regional integration” and increased investment in “sustainable physical and digital infrastructure,” Goldfajn explained. .
“We need to expand and update our physical and digital infrastructure, digital is also very important to reduce commercial and transportation costs, and also to be able to provide our citizens with the services that they have legitimately demanded in recent years,” he added.
In the region, estimates the IDB, only two fifths of households have Internet access and only two thirds of the population have access to mobile broadband.
Latin America and the Caribbean, specified the president of the IDB, faces “a historical backwardness” on the issue of infrastructure and a “gap” both “in quantity and quality.”
This is demonstrated by data such as that more than 300 million people lack access to safe drinking water and sanitation, more than 50% of the population, and that 20% of the primary paved road network is in poor condition, doubling the values of developed countries.
Goldfajn also pointed out the importance of investing in infrastructure that is “climate resilient, especially in countries exposed to tropical storms, tsunamis, earthquakes and natural disasters in general.”
Before the covid-19 pandemic, Latin America and the Caribbean had already slowed investment in infrastructure, both public and private, a fall that coincided with the end of the commodity boom and continues today.
Low investment in infrastructure hampers the region’s competitiveness and will make achieving the SDGs in 2030 a great challenge, says the IDB.
In the organization’s opinion, the boost to investment in infrastructure will have to rely on both public and private investment. For this reason, urgent reforms are needed in the legal frameworks so that there is an institutional capacity to promote private investment.
As part of its annual meeting, the IDB holds a series of seminars these days that conclude on Friday. The 63rd edition of the Annual Meeting of the IDB Board of Governors will be held on Saturday, simultaneously with the 37th edition of the Board of Governors of IDB Invest, the financial arm of the organization that works with the private sector in the region.
Economic and financial leaders will participate in them, especially from Latin America and the Caribbean, but also from the rest of the countries that make up the development bank, which add up to a total of 48.