Exploring new opportunities from Panama to Paraguay

Building on the momentum of significantly increased activity in 2025, the OPEC Fund is continuing its enhanced engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean. Highlighting “our readiness to strengthen our partnership and unlock new opportunities,” President Abdulhamid Alkhalifa welcomed the head of the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB), Ilan Goldfajn, to the OPEC Fund in late January. 

The meeting between the presidents followed the recent signing of a Facility Agreement to pursue new co-financing of sovereign and non-sovereign operations and to deploy technical assistance for project design and implementation. Key sectors for cooperation are transport, renewables and digital infrastructure aligned with the region’s most pressing development needs. 

By end-2025, the OPEC Fund had co-financed 68 projects with IDB, contributing US$833 million for a total amount of US$8.3 billion. Key cooperation areas include advancing sustainable development, facilitating access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, especially women-led, while supporting the energy transition. The OPEC Fund’s total lending to LAC stood at US$4.5 billion. 

The OPEC Fund has also assumed a growing role in connecting Latin America with the Middle East, two markets with significant complementarity. In the financial sector, the OPEC Fund arranged the first loan syndication from a bank in the Gulf region to a financial institution from Paraguay. Round tables and high-level consultations further strengthened policy dialogue with the Arab Coordination Group and its member institutions. 

Insights from the meeting with President Goldfajn also informed the mission of President Alkhalifa to the second Latin America and Caribbean International Economic Forum in Panama at the end of January. Known as the “Latin American Davos,” the event was attended by seven heads of state from the region and more than 2,500 political, economic and academic leaders from different parts of the world. 

The political leaders converged on a common diagnosis: unless it acted as a bloc, the region would continue to be a spectator in the face of geopolitical disputes, economic crises and transnational challenges, as local media reported. The OPEC Fund President used the summit for a series of bilateral meetings, spoke at a panel discussion and signed the first US$30 million tranche of a US$60 million OPEC Fund loan in support of a hospital project in Grenada, a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) in the Caribbean. 

A delegation led by Public Sector Regional Director Luiscela Moreno attended the IDB Annual Meeting in Asunción, Paraguay, on March 11-14. The OPEC Fund team had high-level engagements with representatives from 15 countries and 7 development finance institutions to discuss avenues for co-financing. The meetings covered ongoing operations, new financing requests and opportunities for re-engaging in countries and deepening collaboration. The delegation also paid institutional visits to the host country Paraguay and met with private sector partners.