Export-Import Bank of the United States Advances White House’s Central America Forward Initiative
WASHINGTON – Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chair Reta Jo Lewis participated in Vice President Kamala Harris’ launch of the Central America Forward initiative at the White House yesterday, the administration’s next phase of its Partnership for Central America (PCA) which encourages U.S. corporations to invest and create economic opportunity in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
In FY 2023, EXIM’s total exposure in those three countries was $112 million, part of the Bank’s $5.5 billion in financing support throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
As an immediate follow-on to the White House launch, Chair Lewis hosted PCA Co-Chair Ajay Banga and Executive Director Jonathan Fantini-Porter at EXIM today to discuss further progress under PCA. Lewis pointed to EXIM’s decades-long history of financing exports made in America to Central America and the Caribbean across a range of sectors including agricultural equipment, industrial machinery manufacturing, and energy and climate-related sectors such as wind, solar, and water, as well as the Bank’s ability to help shore up supply chain gaps.
“At a time when global supply chain shocks have made us all look towards more trusted partners, building transparent, secure, sustainable, and diverse supply chains with like-minded nations is critical to ensuring regional economic security,” Chair Lewis said. “EXIM can help unlock the financing for projects that advance these goals and build on the Partnership for Central America’s progress.”
“EXIM is passionate about increasing trade in Central America because we know that it can provide a significant boost to the economies of the region and create new opportunities for businesses and workers in those countries as well as in the United States,” Chair Lewis added.
EXIM’s $52.4 million loan in Honduras in 2022 helped create one of the largest solar projects ever financed in the Americas and supports more than 300 jobs across Ohio, Tennessee, Arizona, California and Pennsylvania.
ABOUT EXIM:
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) is the nation’s official export credit agency with the mission of supporting American jobs by facilitating U.S. exports. To advance American competitiveness and assist U.S. businesses as they compete for global sales, EXIM offers financing including export credit insurance, working capital guarantees, loan guarantees, and direct loans. As an independent federal agency, EXIM contributes to U.S. economic growth by supporting tens of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. Since 1992, EXIM has generated more than $9 billion for the U.S. Treasury for repayment of overall U.S. debt. Learn more at www.exim.gov.