WASHINGTON, Feb 18, CMC – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says it will provide up to seven million US dollars in grants to finance regional public goods (RPGs) projects in Latin America and the Caribbean this year.

It said the projects are aimed at resolving shared challenges and seizing opportunities for development through regional cooperation.

The IDB said that the initiative will provide up to seven million in grants to finance RPGs that are produced collectively by a minimum of three IDB borrowing-member countries.

“Even though the initiative is open to the promotion of RPGs in any development area covered by the IDB, alignment with the IDB's operational priorities is a selection criterion.”

In the launch of the 2015 call for proposals and the initiative for the promotion of RBGs , the IDB said that the other two selection criteria are the value added of a regional vs. national approach to addressing a development challenge or opportunity, and the prospects of sustaining the benefits of regional collective action beyond the support of the Initiative.

“The initiative is the Bank’s most prominent grant instrument to support intra-regional cooperation and the collective design of development solutions in LAC. Demand for its resources has intensified in tandem with the increasing importance of multi or bilateral South-South cooperation (SSC) in the development agenda of most LAC countries,” the IDB added.

It said the “interest in SSC among the Bank´s borrowing members is a reflection of the fact that the region is a source of innovative development solutions that can be shared and replicated throughout LAC and in other parts of the developing world. “

Since 2004, the RPG Initiative has financed 114 projects, investing a total of more than US$90 million.