IIC – Inter-American Investment Corporation

Published purpose

This contribution represents Canada’s institutional support to the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) – IDB Invest, which is part of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group. The IIC is the IDB Group's main entity for private sector operations. The IIC is a development finance institution that traditionally has provided loans to support small and medium sized enterprises. As of January 2016, the private sector operations of the IDB were merged into the IIC, which also included a capital increase to support its expanded activities, and in 2017, the IIC was rebranded to IDB Invest. IDB Invest works with large corporations, financial intermediaries, micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and partially or wholly-owned state enterprises, providing advisory services and financing in the form of loans, equity investments and guarantees in Latin America and the Caribbean. Projects financed by IDB Invest must demonstrate a return on investment and foster sustainable economic development. This can include projects that create jobs, broaden capital ownership, generate net foreign exchange income, facilitate transfers of resources and technology, use local resources, encourage local savings or promote economic integration. IDB Invest focuses its operations on the following five priority business areas: (1) increasing micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises access to finance and technical assistance; (2) promoting infrastructure for development; (3) supporting innovation and technological development; (4) enhancing private provision of basic goods and services; and (5) fostering green growth. Each priority business area takes into account three transversal issues: gender and diversity, environmental and social sustainability, and enabling environment.