Colombia announces $70M credit line for Caribbean islands

San Andres island (Photo: Jenifer Rivera)

Colombia’s national government on Monday announced that the Caribbean archipelago of San Andres and Providencia would receive a $70 million loan to encourage development programs on the islands.

President Juan Manuel Santos, speaking from the island of San Andres, declared that the investment would come from the government working together with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

According to the President’s website, Santos declared that, “in San Andres and Providencia, apart from the normal budget of the ministries, which normally invests in social investment, infrastructure, apart from that, we have invested $70 million between last year and this year. That is a number never before seen in the history of San Andres.”

Santos specified that the new loan would be directed towards specific sectors with a focus on benefiting the archipelago and to continue on “the path of progress and development.”

This most recent investment in the San Andres Archipelago, is in keeping with previous efforts by the Santos administration to promote new forms of sustainable development in the Caribbean islands, one of the more underdeveloped regions of Colombia.

In October 2013, Santos signed a decree seeking to increase the opportunities of the islanders through the creation of employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.

 MORESantos seeks to promote new forms of development in San Andres

The timing of the announcement is significant as Santos has only recently launched his presidential campaign and is looking to build support throughout the country; A ruling by the World Court to strip Colombia of maritime territory surrounding the archipelago caused Santos’ popularity to plunge last year.

Sources

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