Public works in Santa Fe
The vice governor of the province of Santa Fe, Gisela Scaglia, the Minister of Economy, Pablo Olivares, and the director of the Agency for Economic Cooperation and External Financing of the Province (Acefe), Gonzalo Saglione, began an institutional mission in Europe that includes to the cities of Vienna, Paris and Luxembourg. The objective of the mission, financed by the Federal Investment Council (CFI), is to seek external financing for infrastructure projects.
The agenda began on Monday in Vienna, where provincial authorities met with officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund for International Development (OFID). On the occasion, they were received by the organization’s vice president for the Public Sector, Fuad Albassam, and the person responsible for Public Sector Operations with Latin America and the Caribbean of said Fund, Miguel Linares.
The OPEC Fund for International Development is a multilateral development financing institution created in 1976 by the member states of OPEC. Its objective is to strengthen financial cooperation between Member States and other developing countries through financial assistance aimed at promoting the economic and social development of the latter.
The primary mission of the institution is the promotion of South-South alliances with other developing countries around the world, in order to eradicate poverty. The OPEC Fund is headquartered in Vienna, Austria.
Projects in progress and under study
After the meeting, the authorities highlighted the importance of the joint work that has been carried out for a decade in terms of cooperation and financing of infrastructure projects, such as the Reconquista Aqueduct and the Desvío Arijón Aqueduct. In this framework, officials from the OPEC Fund for International Development highlighted that the Province of Santa Fe was the first operation arranged in Argentina by said institution.
Among the topics discussed, they also covered the follow-up on the current operation that includes the financing by the organization of the Aqueduct branch to the city of San Vicente, recently put out to tender. Likewise, they discussed the possibility that the OPEC Fund could be integrated into the financing of the next sections of the Biprovincial Aqueduct, which will supply drinking water to more than 30 Santa Fe towns and the Province of Córdoba. Possibilities of presenting other infrastructure projects as part of future financing operations were also analyzed.
Agricultural development
Subsequently, provincial authorities met with officials from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to analyze the possibility of working on an agenda that identifies opportunities for cooperation and financing. The objective is to achieve synergies that improve agricultural productivity and the socio-productive conditions of the rural areas of Santa Fe. Especially, with investment in infrastructure and education, both agrotechnical and that developed in a rural context, as well as in the promotion of non-traditional crops.
Institutional agenda
This Tuesday, provincial authorities will participate in the opening of the OPEC Fund Development Forum (2024), which will continue under the motto “Boosting resilience and equity.”
They will also hold meetings with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, on the one hand, and with the Saudi Fund for Economic Development, on the other.
On Wednesday, in Paris, they will meet with the French Agency for Development, and on Thursday they will hold a meeting with the director of the Country Studies Branch of the Department of Economics of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Luiz de Mello. The OECD is an international cooperation organization made up of 38 States, whose objective is to coordinate their economic and social policies.
Finally, on Friday in Luxembourg they will participate in a working meeting with the Head of the European Investment Bank for Argentina, Juan Gorriño, and the head of the Public Sector Division for Latin America and the Caribbean, Kristin Lang.
