The Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) is established with US$200 million in capital. Its founding member countries are Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, and Venezuela.
1988 Spanning the Globe
Gunther H. Muller, first General Manager. Austria, Bahamas, Colombia, El Salvador, Germany, Haiti, Israel, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Spain, and Uruguay join the IIC, bringing the number of member countries to 34.
1989
First Projects
The IIC approves loans to expand an export port terminal in Argentina and a free trade zone in the Dominican Republic. It invests in Caderi, a Brazilian investment fund, finances an agribusiness in Uruguay, and grants Banca Serfin a credit line to support export-oriented SMEs in Mexico.
1990 High-Impact Support
The IIC invests US$1 million in Bolivia’s BancoSol, the first private bank in Latin America to serve microenterprises. This is one of the IDB Group’s first investments in microfinance
1992 Measuring Development
The IIC starts calculating each project’s developmental impact. It measures investment rate of return, expected job creation, and contribution to host country GDP.
1993
100 projects approved
John C. Rahming is appointed General Manager. A US$6 million loan to Costa Rica’s Hidroeléctrica Platanar is the IIC’s 100th project. Corporate financing reaches US$450 million.
1994 New Business Plan
A new business plan calls for expanding IIC operations with financial institutions and increasing equity investments and advisory services. The IIC starts financing corporate social responsibility activities with a US$1.6 million loan to a Bolivian company that processes naturally growing Brazil nuts.
1995 More Lending Capacity
A capital increase expands the IIC’s lending capacity from US$1 per dollar of equity to a 3-to-1 ratio. The IIC starts lending to companies that are not majority-owned by Latin American or Caribbean investors.
1997 Funding, Offices, and Member Countries
In Colombia, the IIC establishes its third local presence in the region, after Costa Rica and Uruguay. The IDB approves a US$300 million credit line for financing SMEs. Denmark becomes the 35th member country.
1999 Capital Increase, New General Manager
Jacques Rogozinski, from Mexico, is appointed General Manager. The IIC’s capital is increased by US$500 million. The process of rethinking the institution, its strategy, and its portfolio begins.
2000 Value All Around
The IIC’s access to funding improves with an S&P AA rating for its portfolio. Independent loan and equity investment evaluations are introduced. With a US$10 million loan for a tortilla production company in Mexico to provide financing to the small growers who supply it with corn, the IIC steps up its support for SMEs seeking to join the value chain.
2002 Additionality is the Key
FINPYME® completes its first fifty diagnostic reviews of companies in Chile and Bolivia. FINPYME is part of the IIC’s additionality strategy, which seeks to add value to financing to help clients become more profitable and improve their social and environmental performance.
2004 Trust Funds Grow
Trust funds are a dynamic tool. By now, the IIC is managing funds created by Denmark (2003), Austria (1999), and Italy (1992), and is sponsoring projects funded by the IDB’s Swiss Technical Cooperation Fund.
2005 New, Local-Currency Funding
The IIC is the first multilateral financial institution to issue local-currency bonds in Colombia and invest the proceeds there. Steven Reed, of the U.S., is appointed Deputy General Manager. The Republic of Korea becomes the IIC’s 43rd member country and helps fund a US$40 million SME development fund. The Italian Trust Fund is replenished with US$1.5 million.
2006 FIP and SBRL: More Innovative Programs
As more markets open, the IIC launches the Financial Institutions Program, to mobilize US$160 million per year for banks to onlend to SMEs. Local-currency operations expand to Mexico. The SBRL program is launched, enabling the expedited approval of loans of up to US$600,000. The SBRL increases by US$15 million between 2007 and 2008.
2007 Increasingly Sophisticated Products
The Venture Financing Program is created to prudently develop a portfolio of dynamic start-up projects with high development impact in such sectors as renewable energy, new technology, and economic integration. The US$30 million IFEM program is launched for providing specialized financial institutions in Mexico with funding. First local-currency operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru. C. Kersten & Co., first project in Suriname.
2008 DIAS: Efficient Analysis
The portfolio approach becomes a part of the loan evaluation process to analyze each project’s financial and developmental impact. DIAS is launched to identify, track, and assess development results throughout the project cycle. The new Technical Assistance and Strategic Partnerships Division expands its range of nonfinancial services. Milestone: The IIC’s assets reach US$1.43 billion.
2009 Welcome, China and Haiti
China becomes the IIC’s 44th member country. It establishes a US$75 million fund for the IIC to resume its equity investments. A small agribusiness company and Haiti’s main fuel distributor are the first projects financed in Haiti.
More and more SMEs
GREENPYME® is launched in 2008 to encourage the use of clean energy among small and medium-size enterprises. The IIC expands FINPYME to the Caribbean. Funds from the Walloon Region in Belgium finance export SMEs in Haiti under FINPYME ExportPlus; Korean and Spanish funds are used to support SMEs in Guatemala and Colombia.
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Inter-American Investment Corporation 1350 New York Ave, N.W. Washington DC, 20577, USA
