US Development Finance Corporation Discusses Implementation Of US-Colombia Growth Initiative

US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Chief Executive Officer Adam Boehler joined President of Colombia Iván Duque Márquez, US Senator Chris Coons, and US Global Leadership Coalition President & CEO Liz Schrayer for a panel at the Concordia Americas Summit to discuss the strong US-Colombia bilateral relationship and share details of how the US-Colombia Growth Initiative, once fully implemented, can achieve our shared vision of a drug free Colombia.

“We are pleased to be taking concrete steps forward on the US-Colombia Growth Initiative,” said DFC CEO Boehler. “The use of DFC tools to drive private sector solutions to rural economic problems is filling a gap that has long existed in our collective attempts to fight coca production in Colombia.”

“There has long been bipartisan support for the U.S-Colombia relationship,” said Senator Coons. “As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I look forward to continuing US support for the Colombian people. Broad-based economic growth is the best way to promote the security and stability of Colombia.”

Launched in August, the US-Colombia Growth Initiative is a bilateral framework to strengthen US-Colombia cooperation while leveraging the private sector and US Government tools and resources to create economic opportunity in rural Colombia. The entire coca crop earns Colombian farmers less than $1 billion in revenue per year in total, with coca cultivation spanning 212,000 hectares in 2019. The United States government spends billions of its nearly $35 billion drug control budget addressing cocaine-related enforcement and response. This status quo is untenable and the US-Colombia Growth Initiative is a bi-partisan approach based on a vision of a drug-free Colombia, says the US.

During the Concordia Americas Summit panel, CEO Boehler explained how US Government resources will be used to support the initiative, including financing for private sector projects from DFC that support rural communities. Boehler also discussed the initiative’s five strategic pillars, including providing new economic opportunities to rural farmers outside of illicit drug production. Senator Coons shared more about the importance of private sector investment for Colombia’s future.

DFC currently has over $1 billion invested in more than 30 projects across Colombia in sectors ranging from critical infrastructure to financial services.

Learn more about the US-Colombia Growth Initiative.

Above photo: US DFC CEO Adam Boehler and US National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien joined Colombian President Iván Duque to announce the launch of the US-Colombia Growth Initiative. Photo credit: DFC