President Luis Alberto Moreno, Chief Executive Officer of IDB Invest, James Scriven, and other members of the IDB Team, welcome to the CDB’s Headquarters, even though you are doing so virtually.

On behalf of the senior management and staff of CDB, I am pleased to join with you and your team in the signing of the Mutual Cooperation Agreement between IDB, IDB Invest and CDB.

The significance of today’s event has not been lost on me. Indeed, this is the first virtual signing ceremony in which CDB is participating. This accommodation was of course, born out of necessity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the disruption it has brought to our daily lives over the past 4-5 months. What is important is that we responded to the challenge and transitioned relatively seamlessly to a new and different work environment.

And so I am pleased and proud that we can conduct this ceremony today as testament to our adaptability, and resilience, and, importantly, as a symbol of the strengthened cooperation between our two institutions at a time when our Region needs us more than ever.

The relationship between CDB and IDB, two institutions sharing similar aspirations for the social and economic development of our Caribbean Region, started over four decades ago. Since that historic agreement in 1977, we have partnered on a number of creative initiatives that have enabled all borrowing member countries of CDB, including those in the Organisation for Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) sub- region, to have access to IDB resources. An amendment to your charter authorises you to intermediate funds, through CDB, to the OECS countries, even though they are not members of your institution.

IDB has been an important development partner in the Caribbean region. In CDB, we have leveraged this partnership to mobilise over $133 million in concessionary funds for projects and programmes underpinned by the imperatives of adaptation, resilience-building, good governance, innovation and inclusion.

Today’s signing ceremony is a re-affirmation of CDB and IDB’s shared commitment to the sustainable growth and development of the Caribbean Region. It signals that we have reached another milestone in the collaboration between our two institutions. With the widening of our agreement to include IDB Invest, we are also expanding the opportunities for the regional private sector to play an even bigger and more meaningful role in improving the lives and well-being of Caribbean people.

The new agreement supports our commitment to harmonise approaches and procedures, in accordance with international declarations on aid effectiveness. We are excited by the prospect of evolving a more dynamic private sector, and the promise of increased operational efficiencies which we can pass on to our public and private sector beneficiaries via lower transactional costs. Our technical teams have been working on a $50 million COVID-19 Line of Credit for eligible OECS countries. Board approval of this line of credit, the first one under the new umbrella agreement, will be a strong statement of IDB’s ongoing confidence in CDB’s ability to manage resources on its behalf. I anticipate a speedy and successful end to these negotiations.

To conclude, I would like to thank the IDB and CDB teams who worked diligently to craft this agreement. We are creating new pathways for deepening the relationship and for finding those high impact projects that can change the development trajectory of our Region and benefit our citizens.