Latin America Development Bank Delays Annual Meeting Over Virus
(Bloomberg) -- The Inter-American Development Bank postponed its annual meeting in Colombia scheduled for next week over coronavirus fears.
The Washington-based bank, the top development institution dedicated to Latin America and the Caribbean, announced the decision with Colombian President Ivan Duque on Tuesday evening. The decision to push back the meetings scheduled for Barranquilla to the first half of September was responsible and taken after a frank conversation between the bank and Colombia, Duque said.
“Colombia will continue as the host of this important international event, but we’ll do it making sure that all our visitors have the guarantee that they’ll be able to go to home afterward,” Duque said in a speech at a university on a trip to Mexico City.
The move follows the decision last week by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to use a “virtual format” to convene their spring meetings next month, instead of holding the conference in Washington. Numerous other events around the world have been postponed or canceled over the coronavirus outbreak.
The rescheduling means that the next IDB president will be elected at the meetings, according to a statement from the IDB. The decision previously was expected to be made sometime between July and September. The bank provides billions of dollars in loans and technical assistance to a region with chronic infrastructure and financial shortages.
Argentina’s Gustavo Beliz is poised to vie for the IDB’s top job against a Brazilian, possibly Marcos Troyjo, the Economy Ministry’s Special Secretary for Foreign Trade and International Affairs. Paraguay also intends to launch Finance Minister Benigno Lopez as a candidate, a government official said last week. Backing of the U.S. is crucial to win the position, given its 30% share of the bank and de-facto veto power over its leadership decisions.
To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Martin in Washington at emartin21@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Robert Jameson
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