The investment will target infrastructure financing and be coordinated by the government in Tokyo transferring the $5 million USD to the IDB “Contingent Recovery PPP Preparation Program.”

According to the Inter-American Development Bank, the move “builds upon and complements the IDB and Japan’s long track record of partnering through such platforms as the Co-financing for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CORE) program and the Japan Quality Infrastructure Initiative (JQI).”

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The agreement was signed in Argentina a the IDB’s annual board of governors meeting in Mendoza by Toshiyuki Yasui of Japan and Alexandre da Rosa of IDB.

(Photo credit: Francisco Diez)

The bulk of the loan will “give a big boost” to the massive 4G road construction project underway in Colombia that calls for the investment of tens of billions of dollars to overhaul and improve the mountainous nation’s highways, tunnels, and bridges.

According to the IDB, this funding will “help accelerate financial closures” as the government continues to promote bids and look for firms to collaborate with through public/private partnerships (PPPs). The loan “emphasizes the focus on PPPs to close the infrastructure financing gap and the importance of leveraging local currency to adapt products to the needs of clients,” said IDB in a statement.

For the arrangement, the IDB, through its IDB Invest private sector financing arm, will provide 270 billion pesos ($88 million USD), and FDN will provide 330 billion pesos ($110 million USD) for “long-term lending in local currency.”

The signing was conducted by Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank; Clemente del Valle, president of FDN; and James P. Scriven, president of IDB Invest.