Remarks by CAF's Executive President at the International Economic Forum on Latin America and the Caribbean 2026

Panama City, Panama, January 28, 2026.

I cordially welcome you to a new edition of the International Economic Forum on Latin America and the Caribbean. I would like to begin by highlighting the leadership of the Government of Panama in ensuring the success of this Forum.

Thank you very much, President José Raúl Mulino, to you and your entire cabinet, in particular to Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha; to the Minister of Economy and Finance, Felipe Chapman; and to the Minister of Culture, Maruja Herrera, with whom yesterday we installed the first Festival of Ideas for Latin America and the Caribbean.

I especially greet the Heads of State and Government who are with us, and I would like to highlight the presence of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as the main speaker of this day.

This morning I would like to share with you my thoughts on three strategic axes:

1. Why have we convened this Forum?
2. How do we see the region in the new global scenario?
3. What is CAF's role in this scenario.

Let me begin with the reason for the central theme we have chosen for this year.

This year, 2026, marks the bicentennial of the Amphictyonic Congress of Panama, a bold idea of Simón Bolívar in the face of the new order that was taking shape two centuries earlier. In the Liberator's opinion, Panama was the ideal scenario for building an integrated, strong and united region.

This Forum has the same essence: to think about how we give our nations the necessary coordination capabilities and how we strengthen our region, integrating among ourselves and with the rest of the world. In the midst of fragmentation, we need broad, bold and high-impact spaces for reflection in order to align positions, add geopolitical protagonism, and provide the region with its own voice to contribute concrete solutions and courses of action.

We have registered an unprecedented interest and reception. We have more than 6,000 people registered, coming from more than 70 countries. This Forum is the most important meeting for the region in terms of mobilization and alliances. The deliberations of these days will provide inputs to turn ideas into actions that will improve the lives of people throughout the region.

Latin America and the Caribbean has the necessary pieces to solve its dilemmas. The formula for success lies in dialogue, sustained effort and the sum of potentialities. The new global panorama offers the region an unprecedented scenario.

We are experiencing a schism in the rules-based system. And this system, imperfect, but which provided a floor of certainty, is today opposed by another, centered on interests and disputes over the control of essential elements for the digital and energy transitions.

Latin America and the Caribbean, with more than 650 million inhabitants, 15% of the earth's surface and an incomparable biodiversity, a true engine of solutions to global dilemmas, must navigate this reality.

And we can do so with full confidence, because the region has what the world expects and needs. For global food security, our fields offer the largest larder on the planet. For artificial intelligence and the global energy transition, we need the metals and minerals that Latin America and the Caribbean have.

And to generate certainty and build confidence, we highlight the good news of the signing of the Mercosur agreement with the European Union two weeks ago. So, rather than scaring us, the winds of change associated with technology, institutional renewal and new trends should serve to enhance our progress. In the global geopolitical chess game, our region is not a marginal player, but a major player.

At CAF, we believe that the trigger for opportunities lies in the correction of the secular imbalances that afflict us. Among them, high informality, persistent poverty, unemployment, insecurity, sudden migrations and the erosion of democratic institutions?

The problems that plague and mistreat the region will find their answer through collective action that prioritizes well-being, and that transcends ideological differences. Our strength as a region lies in unity and coordination. For this reason, strengthening integration, more than an aspiration, is a strategic imperative. Integration for growth. Integration to irrigate prosperity and realize our collective potential.

In this scenario, CAF plays a very important role. More than 80 years ago, the Bretton Woods meeting was held to rebuild the world after World War II. Institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund were born, and the seeds were planted that allowed CAF to emerge decades later. Latin America and the Caribbean were part of that global effort.

The then Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Lleras Restrepo, who a couple of decades later, as President of the Republic, conceived CAF together with his Chilean colleague Eduardo Frei Montalva, was present. The institutions we have today were the result of action at a time of crisis, and the response to close gaps and meet the challenge of growth.

The thinking of CAF's founders connects with cathedral thinking, with that vision that, brick by brick, builds thinking of the generations to come. It is a conviction that is part of our essence and our DNA as an institution.

CAF today has 24 shareholder countries and is moving forward to become the development bank with the largest geographic presence in the region.

We are already the largest non-sovereign issuer in Latin America and the Caribbean, and we have the best credit rating in our history, growing our balance sheet and liquidity. We are innovating and mobilizing more and more resources to the region, and we are consolidating our position as a platform that promotes Latin America and the Caribbean around the world.

What was unthinkable half a century ago is today a concrete reality full of potential at the service of all Latin Americans and Caribbeans. However, we are convinced that we can, and must, do much more. Mario Vargas Llosa wrote that "everything is never completely won. Octavio Paz used to say that "the journey never ends", that "it is always beyond".

Last month, by a broad consensus, the countries of the region extended my term as executive president of CAF until 2031. I want to thank again the governments, the directors and the chairman of the bank's Board of Directors, Minister Tancoo of Trinidad and Tobago, for their confidence. Together, we will continue to give the bank a forward-looking and effective orientation in the face of the transitions and challenges facing the region.

We are focusing our actions for the next five years on three pillars. The first is to promote opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean, with work concentrated in both our cities and the rural sector. Second, to be an even closer, more agile and flexible bank, a partner of the countries, with actions tailored to their needs and realities.

We will continue to put our experience and accumulated knowledge in solving problems at the regional level at the service of each of the shareholder countries.

Third, we will continue to expand our financial services. We have the foundations in place to achieve exponential growth in our portfolio. We aim to grow the bank by at least 70 percent by 2031.

That means close to USD 100 billion in new approvals, at least 20 percent of which will be mobilized to the private sector with development impact. We will consolidate our position as the main window for development financing in the region. And we will strengthen coordination through initiatives such as this Forum. We have enormous opportunities ahead of us and we will take advantage of them based on a pragmatic integration model.

We will continue to strengthen all this work together with an extraordinary group of multilateral institutions with which we are making progress on issues such as digital transformation, energy transition, security, trade, sustainability, infrastructure and resilience.

In fact, this week we expect to finalize close to 35 agreements with strategic partners to strengthen this work. Today, from CAF, the region can dream, plan and do. The great debate we will have during these two days will help us to define new actions and programs for the region.

For this reason, I would like to thank once again the Heads of State and Government who are with us. You are pioneers in building this public-private alliance for well-being and progress. It is time to raise our gaze, with the mentality of the good ancestor who works with his feet in the present and his heart in those who have not yet been born.

Once again, I welcome you to this second edition of the International Economic Forum on Latin America and the Caribbean.

Thank you very much!