San Antonio, Texas, Dec. 6, 2002 - The Board of Directors of the North American Development Bank (NADB) capped a milestone year with the approval of US$14 million in loans for the communities of Tijuana, Baja California, and San Benito, Texas, at its meeting in San Antonio, Texas, Friday.
During the current calendar year, the NADB has approved US$119.88 million in project financing, which is nearly twice the amount approved last year. Since its inception, the NADB has approved US$474.25 million in loans and grants for 52 infrastructure projects along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"We have certainly turned a corner as an institution, and we expect to see continued rapid growth in our project portfolio" said William E. Schuerch, the Chairman of the NADB Board of Directors, who serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury for International Development, Debt and Environmental Policy. "The new financial tools in place at the Bank are helping it to achieve a new level of accomplishment improving the health of millions of border residents."
The Bank's latest commitments include a US$6 million loan for Tijuana's wastewater system rehabilitation and improvements project and a US$8 million loan for a water and wastewater improvements project for the city of San Benito. With these two financing commitments, the Bank's loan portfolio now totals US$49 million.
The NADB Board of Directors also witnessed the signing of two grant agreements with the cities of San Benito and Santa Rosa, Texas, during its annual public meeting held at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). The grants are made available through the Bank's Border Environment Infrastructure Fund (BEIF), which is funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Mayor Cesar Gonzalez of San Benito signed a US $17.91 million BEIF grant agreement, and his counterpart in the neighboring community of Santa Rosa, Mayor Ruben Ochoa, Jr., signed a US$3.98 million BEIF grant. These funds will allow both cities to improve the delivery and quality of their utility services at an affordable cost for their citizens.
"The Bank continues to serve as the U.S.-Mexico border region's catalyst for the development of environmental infrastructure," said Alonso Garcia Tames, the incoming chairman of the Board, who serves as Director General of Public Credit for the Mexico Ministry of Finance and Public Credit. "We are enthusiastic that the Bank's projects yield the clean water and healthy environment that residents of the region deserve."
For more information on the NADB, visit www.nadb.org.
The North American Development Bank, created under the auspices of NAFTA, is a financial institution established and capitalized in equal parts by the United States and Mexico for the purpose of financing environmental infrastructure projects along their common border. As a pioneer institution in its field, the Bank is working to develop integrated, sustainable and fiscally responsible projects with broad community support in a framework of close cooperation and coordination between Mexico and the United States.
