By Caribbean News Global 
ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay — Canada is expanding its support for resilience and business development in the Caribbean through its partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group).
The government of Canada’s previously announced commitment of CAD 10 million to the Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) of the Caribbean Community Resilience Fund (CCRF) through the IDB Group’s ONE Caribbean program was formalised through signature of the corresponding administrative arrangement in February.
The contribution will reinforce the ONE Caribbean Multi-Donor Trust Fund, the IDB Group’s main regional platform for advancing resilient development. ONE Caribbean addresses shared challenges, including resilience, disaster-risk management, citizen security, private-sector development, and food security, while strengthening institutions and promoting digital transformation.
Resources will finance technical assistance and help prepare resilient projects for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and investments across sectors such as sustainable energy, transport, sustainable agriculture, and blue economy industries.
Announced at the 48th Regular Meeting of heads of government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), this contribution underlines Canada’s sustained commitment to practical, private-sector-led solutions across the region.
Additionally, Canada was the first donor to deposit its instrument of acceptance and contribution to IDB Lab, the innovation and venture arm of the IDB Group, providing USD 2.2 million to support its recent replenishment. Through its contribution, Canada is also supporting Small and Island States in the Caribbean with nearly USD $111,000 under IDB Lab’s Impact Enhancement Program – a flagship advisory initiative aimed at strengthening the social, resilient, and economic impact of its clients while embedding responsible digital transformation across their business models.
The IDB Group welcomes Canada’s continued leadership and partnership in building a safer and more sustainable future for the Caribbean.
Meanwhile, IDB Group concluded its 2026 annual meetings in Paraguay with strong backing from member countries to expand development financing across Latin America and the Caribbean and strengthen private-sector-led growth.
The gathering came after a record year for the IDB Group, where total financing reached $35 billion. With growth in both public and private operations and continued reform implementation, the IDB Group’s financing capacity is expected to reach $500 billion over the next decade — more than double the amount of the previous ten years — to support growth, jobs, infrastructure, and opportunities across Latin America and the Caribbean.
The focus is not only on scale, but on results. The IDB Group’s 2025 Impact Report found that our operations helped 34 million people access health and nutrition services, enabled 2.6 million people to gain broadband connectivity, supported 3.3 million micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, and improved agricultural services for nearly one million farmers.
During the annual meetings, the IDB Group also announced that the subscription process for the $3.5 billion capitalisation of IDB Invest, approved by the boards of governors in Punta Cana in 2024, has been successfully closed, strengthening its capacity to mobilise private investment and finance companies across the region.
Governors also reviewed several initiatives aimed at translating greater financing capacity into stronger development outcomes:
- The IDB Group launched IDB LAC Minerals, which aligns interests that benefit both the Latin America and Caribbean region and its trusted partners around the world. The initiative fosters safe, value-added supply chains originating in the region. Each party brings its contribution. Latin America and the Caribbean brings scale in minerals and a growing commitment to value addition. Global partners bring long-term demand and attractive pricing, advanced technology, and capital. The IDB Group bridges the two — supporting policy and regulatory frameworks, catalyzing private investment, and financing processing and value-chain infrastructure.
- The meetings also marked the launch of LAC Crece, the IDB Group’s platform for accelerating private-sector-led growth through sequenced, prioritised, and financed action. Through LAC Crece, the IDB Group helps align public action and private investment to unlock productivity, growth, and jobs. The platform is already being implemented by governments in El Salvador and Bolivia, with additional work underway in the Dominican Republic and Ecuador.
- In addition, the IDB introduced Procure+, a comprehensive reform of procurement across IDB-financed operations, covering about $4.5 billion in projects annually. This initiative strengthens competition, improves efficiency of spending, and raises transparency standards to deliver better projects and stronger results.
Integration was also a central theme of the meetings, with programs and initiatives such as Amazonia Forever, South Connection, and IDB Cares advancing projects that turn regional cooperation into investments that strengthen productivity, resilience, and opportunity across Latin America and the Caribbean.
The annual meetings in Asunción gathered nearly 4,000 participants from 48 countries, including about 1,700 representatives from the private sector, with almost 400 CEOs and 700 C-level executives. Participants held more than 440 meetings, including hundreds of networking sessions and private-sector meetings, highlighting strong engagement between governments, investors, and development partners.
The discussions underscored a shared priority among members: mobilising private-sector investment and translating that scale into growth, jobs, opportunity, and ultimately, development across Latin America and the Caribbean.
