DUBAI, CMC – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) on Sunday signed an addendum to their 2020 Mutual Cooperation Agreement to develop a new action plan to bolster collaboration and coordination among the organisations in the Caribbean region.

The agreement, which was also signed with the IDB Invest, is also intended to strengthen activities aimed at addressing climate change resilient, physical and digital, infrastructure, project preparation and execution in priority areas, private sector productivity and development, and exposure exchange agreements and other financial products, among others.

“The addendum to the existing agreement includes a three-year action plan for strengthening the resiliency ecosystem including, capacity building on project execution, joint research and knowledge-sharing activities and co-financing for private sector growth,” said CDB President, Dr Hyginus ‘Gene’ Leon at the signing ceremony on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 28).

“These initiatives are critical flagstones along the path to resilient prosperity. We look forward to the enhancing of this partnership with IDB as we could not deliver on these programmes on our own,” he added.

Meanwhile, IDB President, Ilan Goldfajn, said the Washington-based financial institution, IDB Invest and the CDB reinforce today their commitment to identifying synergies and enhancing collaboration for the benefit of the entire Caribbean.

“Our mutual priorities include boosting regional infrastructure resilience to climate change both physical and digital, enhancing mutual project preparation and execution capacity in priority areas, promoting private sector productivity, growth and development, and exploring financial solutions to extend the organisations’ reach and impact in the region. This new chapter with the CDB is aligned and reinforces IDB’s new regional programme ‘One Caribbean’” he added.

Additionally, the chief executive officer of IDB Invest, James Scriven, said “no other region has been more affected by climate change than the Caribbean, and bolstering our relationship with the CDB will allow us to support sustainable projects for the local ecosystems, economies and communities”.

Since 1977, the IDB and the CDB have collaborated on areas of common interest. In 2017, both institutions formalised their collaboration through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Caribbean.

In 2020, they further bolstered collaboration through a mutual agreement, focusing on co-financing projects, providing financial and advisory services, promoting partnerships, and fostering knowledge exchange.

They said that the addendum signed Sunday, along with the new action plan, complements the existing mutual cooperation agreement and that it emphasises collaborative actions and partnership activities aimed at addressing upcoming development challenges in the Caribbean aligned with IDB’s “One Caribbean”, a new regional flagship programme that aims to promote the sustainable development of the Caribbean with a sharpened focus on high-impact interventions.

The “One Caribbean” programme includes four key pillars, namely climate adaptation, disaster risk management and resilience; citizen and business security; sustainable development through private sector engagement; and food security.