By Government Press Office | BELIZE
BELMOPAN, Belize – Dr Dante Mossi, executive president of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), is heading a delegation on a mission in Belize from January 17 to 21, 2022.
On January 17, 2022, Dr Mossi and his delegation met with prime minister John Briceño, Christopher Coye, minister of state in the ministry of finance, economic development and investment; Narda Garcia, chief executive officer in the ministry of finance and investment; Dr Osmond Martinez, chief executive officer in the ministry of economic development; Joseph Waight, financial secretary; and Carlos Pol, director, climate finance unit and technical focal point to CABEI, at the Laing Building in Belize City.
Prime minister John Antonio “Johnny” Briceño welcomed Dr Mossi and his delegation and offered the government’s support throughout the one-week stay in Belize. The prime minister discussed new initiatives that his administration would like to pursue through financing from CABEI including agriculture, health, transportation, education, business process outsourcing, micro, small and medium enterprises, and infrastructure.
In response, Dr Mossi thanked the prime minister and his team and pledged to continue assisting the people and government of Belize, especially during the pandemic. He shared that CABEI has different financial instruments available to assist Belize such as the Taiwan Trust Fund and the CABEI/GCF. Dr Mossi also indicated that the organization can assist with public/private investment in terms of infrastructure projects. At the conclusion of his presentation, the president informed the prime minister of CABEI’s plans to open an office in Belmopan by 2023.
The meeting concluded with the prime minister and the executive president signing a Non-Reimbursable Financial Cooperation Agreement. The agreement is for a Bicentennial Scholarship Program, which seeks to contribute to social welfare and improve access to secondary education for low-income students in the beneficiary member countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Belize. The Non-Reimbursable Financial Cooperation Agreement is for an amount of up to BZ$1,250,000.
The funds for the cooperation agreement will be used exclusively to finance 225 new scholarships for five years for children and adolescents who meet the criteria established in the Bicentennial Scholarships Program approved by CABEI. The selection of the scholarship recipients will be done by the Scholarship Recipient Selection Committee that will be formed by the CABEI-ASF Fund Representative, CABEI’s Sovereign Public Sector Manager or his/her designee, and the Regional Projects Office (PROREG), with the support of members designated by the coordinating agency, which will be governed in accordance with the provisions established by CABEI.
Accompanying the prime minister for the agreement signing were Dr Louis Zabaneh, minister of state in the ministry of education, culture, science, technology and e-Governance; Dian Castillo-Maheia, chief executive officer in the ministry; and Yolanda Gongora, chief education officer.
During the mission, Dr Mossi and his delegation will be holding high-level meetings with the ministers and CEOs of the ministries of health, education, infrastructure development, home affairs, national defence, agriculture, youth, blue economy, sustainable development, public utilities and tourism. The delegation will meet with private sector entities such as the Banana Growers Association, Citrus Growers Association, Belize Sugar Industry as well as the management of the Corozal Free Zone.
Meetings will also be held with representatives from Belize Electricity Limited, Digi and the Development Finance Corporation. The objectives of these meetings are to provide an update on ongoing projects, discuss potential projects for financing, and present CABEI’s lines of products.
The CABEI delegation is comprised of the following persons:
- Dr Dante Ariel Mossi Reyes, Executive President of CABEI
- Ken Chang-Keng Chen, Director for the Republic of China (Taiwan)
- Salvador Sacasa, Advisor to the Communication and Foreign Affairs Office
- Carlos Gomez Diaz, Non-Sovereign of Public-Private Manager
- Jaejin Lee, Social Support Foundation Manager
- Kerstin Morales, Project Executive
- Elan Tabora, Structuring Executive
