Íñigo de la Serna highlights Spain's commitment to Latin America during inauguration of new Inter-American Investment Corporation of IDB Group

The Minister for Public Works, Íñigo de la Serna, spoke earlier today at the presentation of the new Inter-American Investment Corporation of the Inter-American Development Bank Group. The President of the IDB, Luis Alberto Moreno, and the State Secretary for Trade and President of ICEX, Maria Luisa Poncela, also spoke at the event.

Spanish investments in Latin America

During the course of the presentation, the Spanish minister highlighted Spain's commitment to development in Latin America and the Caribbean in terms of both the public sector and private enterprise. He said that "Latin America currently receives one third of all Spanish investment around the world, making us the second-largest investor in the region after the United States. 90% of the IBEX 35 companies are presently involved in the construction of truly iconic State projects".

Íñigo de la Serna went on to say that the investments in Latin America include the involvement by Spanish companies in building the underground system in Lima and the Panama Canal expansion project, among others.

The Spanish minister highlighted the commitment made by the Government of Spain to continue working with the countries of the Ibero-American Community. "Spain cannot be understood without Latin America and Latin America cannot be understood without Spain. We will be stronger, we will have more weight in international affairs and the citizens of our countries will have greater advantages and quality of life according to how much we can harness the sum of our added values", he insisted.

As regards the internationalisation of Spanish companies, the minister stressed that "ten major Spanish corporations stand among the 100 leading contractors in the world. Furthermore, six of the top-15 global companies in transport infrastructure management are Spanish".

The Spanish minister also took the opportunity to highlight the involvement of Spanish companies in building the high-speed rail link between Mecca and Medina, as well as the underground system in Riyadh.

All-time records in air and port traffic

Íñigo de la Serna went on to stress that AENA is the leading airport manager in the world in terms of passenger traffic and posted a new all-time record with an increase of 11% on 2015. He also said that Spain is the third-largest country in terms of container movement at ports, after posting figures of 509 million tonnes of freight and 33 million passengers in 2016.

Inter-American Investment Corporation

The new Inter-American Investment Corporation (Spanish acronym: CII) presented in Spain on Thursday was launched in 2016 to foster development in Latin America and the Caribbean through the private sector. As part of its mission, the Inter-American Investment Corporation supports the private sector and State property companies through financing in the form of loans, capital investments and guarantees. It also builds partnerships with clients in order to offer consultancy and training services.