The 56th General Assembly of the Latin American Association of Development Financing Institutions (ALIDE) opened Wednesday in Asunción with the highest attendance of foreign delegates in the event's history. About 300 participants from more than 90 institutions and 30 countries are gathered through Friday to discuss the strategic role of development banking in the new global economic landscape.
At the opening, ALIDE President Juan Cuattromo warned that Latin America and the Caribbean face an international context marked by economic slowdown, trade and financial tensions, persistent inflation, and geopolitical conflicts reshaping global value chains. “What was once cyclical volatility is now a structural condition and a challenge to development,” he said. He argued that development banking should mobilize investments for strategic sectors, finance productive transformation projects, and expand access to economic opportunities.
The head of the National Development Bank (BNF), Manuel Ochipinti, highlighted Paraguay's economic performance, which closed the 2022-2025 period as one of the fastest-growing economies in the region, with a projected growth rate of 4.2% for this year, according to the Central Bank of Paraguay. He noted advances in sectors such as maquila, clean energy production, and agro-industrial exports, and stated that public banking should lead the structuring of financial instruments to attract long-term investments. “Development banks are not actors of last resort; we are the first called to mobilize resources where the market would arrive late or not at all,” he said.
The assembly agenda is organized around three pillars: innovation, investment, and financial inclusion. Cuattromo argued that innovation means “rethinking financial instruments, creating more efficient mechanisms for resource mobilization, and incorporating data intelligence.” On investment, he said the challenge is to channel capital into sectors that generate productivity, employment, and economic resilience. Regarding inclusion, he insisted that access to credit and financial services remains an outstanding debt for millions of people in the region.
Paraguay's Minister of Economy and Finance, Óscar Lovera, and the President of the Central Bank of Paraguay, Carlos Carvallo Spalding, also attended the opening. The event continues with panels, debates, and meetings among financial authorities, multilateral organizations, and representatives from the private sector and academia.