MIAMI, FL – Three Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries are among 17 Latin American and Caribbean countries (LAC) meeting here discussing over US$65 billion in proposed transport investment projects.
Representatives from Guyana, Haiti and Suriname are among representatives from the 17 participating countries attending the event. The others are from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and the Dominican Republic.
The Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group) said that the LAC Transport Forum 2026 provides an opportunity for more than 110 transport investment projects for the next 18 months to be presented.
It said that the Forum, organised for the first time in partnership with the International Federation of Consulting Engineers – a global leader in infrastructure standards – aims to address the sector’s main challenges by mobilizing capital and enhancing the projects’ scale, quality, and impact.
Latin America and Caribbean needs to invest about 3.5 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) each year through 2030 to close its infrastructure gap. This IDB said that this amounts to more than US1.6trillion,ofwhichtransportationaccountsformorethanUS630 billion. Additionally, IDB estimates that inefficiencies in investment processes cause the region to lose one out of every two dollars allocated to infrastructure.
“We can improve the performance of infrastructure investments by up to 35% without increasing public spending. The goal is more and better infrastructure, and greater impact for people,” said IDB Group President, Ilan Goldfajn.
The IDB Group said that to help countries invest more effectively in transportation infrastructure, it has launched the regional platform Transport Delivers, which aims to improve the quality, transparency, and competitiveness of investment processes.
The new platform will enable the implementation and expansion of reforms under the IDB’s Procure+ initiative in infrastructure projects throughout the region, with the goal of generating more efficient investments that have a greater impact on the population.
The projects presented at the Forum are designed to boost connectivity, competitiveness, and regional integration. In this context, Transport Delivers will support improved project planning, bidding, and contracting, promoting greater competition and better outcomes for transportation investments.
Competition creates value and each additional bidder reduces prices by two to eight per cent on average, while evaluating quality alongside price reduces the total cost of infrastructure assets over their useful life by five to 20 per cent.
IDB Group said that Transport Delivers has secured US2.5millionintotalcontributionsfromSpainandJapanandaimstoraiseanadditionalUS10 million from donors over the next five years. The initiative seeks to improve the enabling conditions for approximately $20 billion in transportation investments.
The new initiative is part of the IDB’s BID for the Americas initiative, which promotes greater private-sector participation in projects financed by the IDB Group.
