KINGSTON, Jamaica – President Mauricio Claver-Carone of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of the University of The West Indies (The UWI), signed an agreement to formalize a new phase of cooperation and deepen collaboration between the institutions.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which includes the IDB’s private-sector entity, IDB Invest, envisions joint research, initiatives, and exchange of knowledge to help drive economic and social recovery and growth in region. It identifies innovation; digital transformation and inclusion; and climate action and resilience as priority areas for expanded collaboration.
The agreement will foster further cooperation under the umbrella of #BIDAcademy, the IDB’s centralized knowledge hub for providing the public with access to development-related knowledge and learning resources. The agreement will also align the partnership with Vision 2025, the IDB’s agenda for driving recovery and seizing opportunities revealed by the pandemic to spur sustainable, inclusive economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean.
This new phase of cooperation builds on a robust partnership between the bank and The UWI, which has enabled knowledge exchange, regional policy dialogue and collaboration in water and sanitation, gender, and science, technology, and innovation, among other areas.
Deepening partnerships and expanding engagement within the Caribbean has been a top priority for the IDB under president Claver-Carone. The signing, which took place at The UWI’s regional headquarters in Kingston, occurred during the president’s first official mission to the Caribbean since his election in October 2020.