Inter-American Development Bank

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group is the main source of development financing in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The IDB Group is comprised of three institutions, the IDB, IDB Invest and IDB Lab.

• The IDB is the sovereign arm that provides low-cost loans, grants, credits and guarantees to its Borrowing Member Countries (BMC).
• IDB Invest is the private sector arm of the Bank that finances companies and projects that will spur sustainable development in the region.
• IDB Lab is the innovation arm of the Bank that identifies technologies and early-stage entrepreneurial solutions for regional development, while mobilizing development financing, knowledge, and connections with multilateral stakeholders.

The IDB's goal is to improve lives in Latin American and the Caribbean, and its' strategic areas of focus include social inclusion and equality, productivity and innovation, climate change and environmental sustainability, institutional capacity and the rule of law, and regional economic integration. The IDB recently launched an initiative called Amazonia Forever, which is a holistic umbrella program aimed at scaling up financing, sharing strategic knowledge for decision-makers, and enhancing regional coordination to accelerate sustainable, inclusive, and resilient development for the Amazon region. Another example would be the IDB's BID for the Americas program. Focused mainly on sustainable infrastructure, this program seeks to strengthen and grow economic ties by unlocking untapped business opportunities in the region, by bridging partnerships between the 26 countries in the region, and key partners from Europe, North America and Asia.

The IDB Group has 48 members, 26 of which are BMCs; which also hold 50% of the voting power on the IDB Board. Canada has been an active member and shareholder of the IDB Group since 1972, providing strategic guidance to support the Bank's goals.

Project procurement

The IDB provides an oversight role, and reviews the Borrower's procurement procedures, documents, bid evaluations, award recommendations, and contracts to ensure that the procurement process is carried out in accordance with IDB procedures.

The Executing/Implementing Agency is responsible for awarding the contract and is typically the buyer, rather than the IDB. Project procurement represents the majority share of procurement opportunities.

Successful firms should first prepare a long-term business development plan by using publicly available information including Country Strategies. Firms should also consult the IDB's Monthly Operational Summary (MOS) for the status of projects while they are in the IDB lending pipeline.

While projects are being prepared, firms should consult IDB project pages, which include procurement plans and other project-related information. Successful firms track projects early in the project cycle, and maintain relationships with key IDB sector specialists and with Implementing Agencies in BMCs.

Firms can also review project procurement contract award data to better understand their competition and find partners for potential project opportunities.

Firms should refer to the relevant IDB procurement policies for Goods and Works (PDF format) and for the Selection of Consultants (PDF format). However, these can also be determined by reviewing the relevant prequalification, bidding, and request for proposal documents.

Bank executed operational procurement

Bank-Executed Operational (BEO) procurement is the contracting of consulting services of firms directly by the IDB for projects that support the Bank's development agenda. These consulting services business opportunities range across a variety of sectors, including healthcare, energy, governance, transport. As of July 1, 2024, all BEO processes will follow the new Corporate Procurement Policy. Visit the IDB's Corporate Procurement Resources page to download the current Corporate Procurement Policy. These policies apply to all contracts for consulting services financed in whole or in part from Bank loans or grants, or funds administered by the Bank and implemented by the Borrower.

Firms can also review BEO contract awards data to better understand their competition and find partners for potential project opportunities.

Corporate procurement

The IDB Corporate Procurement Team purchases a broad array of goods, works and services to meet its internal needs, mainly for IDB staff, IDB HQ and Country Offices. The principles of transparency, fairness, responsiveness, value and accountability govern the Bank's corporate procurement activities and are part of its Corporate Procurement Policy.

Firms can also monitor business opportunities and review contract award data.

Additional resources for firms

ConnectAmericas

ConnectAmericas is a free virtual partnering platform created by the IDB (with the support of Google, Mastercard, Sealand, DHL, and Facebook) to help small and medium-sized enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean gain access to international markets. The platform allows nearly 500,000 entrepreneurs from 160 countries to explore business opportunities and provides them with training tools to facilitate their transactions.

IDB Invest projects

IDB Invest is the private-sector arm of the IDB Group and provides financing for projects and companies in the region, through loans, equity, debt, guarantees, blended finance, and technical assistance. IDB Invest works in a wide variety of sectors, including infrastructure, financial entities, agribusiness, manufacturing, tourism, telecommunications and media and technology.

IDB Invest plays an important role in mobilizing resources and providing expert advice. It can complement public sector reforms by setting high standards for environmental, social, and governance safeguards and non-financial risk management for the projects it finances.

IDB Lab

IDB Lab has approved more than US$ 2 billion in over 2,700 projects deployed across 26 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. IDB Lab is an innovation lab and, operates differently from the IDB and IDB Invest. IDB Lab offers a platform for small companies to demonstrate experimental concepts, showcase innovative technologies and market solutions, that can be scaled up at a regional level by the IDB or IDB Invest. The innovative solution must impact one or more of the IDB's Borrowing Member Countries in the region. Some examples include projects that empower women, benefit poor and vulnerable populations, create public sector innovations that help to lower costs, among others. The IDB Group is the only IFI with an arm fully dedicated to fostering innovation at a regional level.

Frequently asked question

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