The initiative will include support from the Inter-American Development Bank and CAF to improve physical connectivity in the region.

The Pacific Alliance (PA) is to set up a fund to finance infrastructure projects (link in Spanish), with investments that will come from private entities and institutions from both within the bloc and globally.

In so doing, the PA is formalizing an idea that was first put forward in 2015 during Peru’s pro-tempore presidency of the bloc. “The implementation of this plan will be supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF),” said Chile’s finance minister Rodrigo Valdés.

Although it remains to be established how investors will be matched to projects, the type of corporate governance the fund will have, and each PA country’s share in it, authorities have already estimated that the initiative may mobilize over US$100 billion.