IDB Aims to Push China-LatAm Beyond Commods

The IDB is aiming to channel Chinese investment into vehicles that will support LatAm’s development beyond commodity exports. The Agricultural Bank of China is set to officially join a $1bn trade finance program. “We’ve begun signing up [Chinese] banks for our Trade Finance Faclitation Program,” says Steven Puig, a vice president at the IDB tells LatinFinance, noting that the Bank of China is already on board. It is actively seeking funds from others. This program and others including a $150m equity fund investing in SMEs – receiving Chinese funds via its participation as an Inter-American Investment Corporation member – are a way to direct investment into the bottom of the pyramid as well as the top. “We’re hoping this will spur trade in general and not just the commodity-related trade,” he says.