The Central American Bank for Economic Integration - CABEI ( BCIE in Spanish) was founded in 1960. It is an international multilateral development financial institution. Its resources are invested in projects that foster development to reduce poverty and inequality; strengthen regional integration and the competitive insertion of its member countries in the global economy; providing special attention to environmental sustainability. Its headquarters are in

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...

(Honduras) and has regional offices in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

Mission

CABEI is a

multilateral development bank An international financial institution (IFI) is a financial institution that has been established (or chartered) by more than one country, and hence is subject to international law. Its owners or shareholders are generally national governments, al ...

whose mission is to promote the economic integration and the balanced economic and social development of the Central American region, which includes the founding countries and the non-founding regional countries, attending and aligning itself with the interests of all of its member countries.

Vision

CABEI's vision consists of being the strategic ally of its member countries in the provision of financial solutions that contribute to the creation of employment and improvement of the well-being and quality of life of its citizens.

Members

* Founding countries: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. These countries signed the founding covenant which establishes the CABEI, in the decision frame adopted by their governments to promote regional economic integration. * Non-founding regional countries:

and

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

, which take part in the

Central American Integration System The Central American Integration System ( es, Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana, or SICA) has been the economic and political organization of Central American states since 1 February 1993. On 13 December 1991, the ODECA countries (Spa ...

(SICA in its Spanish initials) and are represented before CABEI's Board of Directors and Governors' Assembly. * Non-regional countries:

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, and

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its east ...

. They have deemed important to join CABEI with the aim of having a permanent regional presence, thus enlarging their international projection through supporting founding countries' development. They also have named representatives before CABEI's Board of Directors and Governors' Assembly. * Beneficiary countries:

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

. It has joined the CABEI to receive loans and guarantees, same as regional countries, but, unlike them, Belize has not bought shares of the institution. Apart from regional countries, Argentina and Colombia enjoy the capacity of receiving CABEI's loans and guarantees.

Functions

CABEI is the development bank for Central America, its strategic partner and the main purveyor of resources: by late 2009, it had approved $14,603.3 million since its inception for the development of the region. As a regional financing institution, CABEI supports both public and private sectors and specializes in raising and channeling external money to promote investment in its action areas, which are: * Energy and production infrastructure * Agriculture and rural development * Human development and social infrastructure * Industry, urban development and services for competitiveness * Financial trading and development finance

Structure

CABEI's maximum authority is the Governors' Assembly, integrated by Ministers of Economy and central bank Governors of member countries. Besides, CABEI's Founding Covenant includes other authorities: Directory, as the organ responsible for the bank's direction; President, elected by the Governors' Assembly; Vice president, elected by the Directory; and other officials deemed necessary for the institution's functioning.

References

External links

Central American Bank for Economic Integration
official site {{Trade Supranational banks Multilateral development banks International economic organizations Organizations based in Tegucigalpa 1960 establishments in Honduras