Madrid, March 28th, 2023.- In order to improve the quality of life of the population living in rural areas of Honduras and enable the productive sectors to develop their production and distribution processes continuously throughout the year, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) will partially finance the "National Program for Intervention in Productive Roads", which will strengthen the unpaved road network in productive areas of the country, to be executed by the Secretariat of State in the Offices of Infrastructure and Transportation (SIT for its name in Spanish).

As the most relevant development Bank for the region, CABEI will finance an amount of up to US$14.8 million to support the intervention of 4,215.48 km of productive roads in 42 municipalities in the country. This operation is aimed at strengthening the productive road network and improving the country's capacity to respond to possible damages caused by natural phenomena, ensuring that the productive sectors can continue with their production and distribution processes uninterruptedly.

"Close to 389,000 Hondurans, farmers and rural entrepreneurs will benefit from this investment that impacts the productive and industrial development of the entire country, making it more competitive. In addition to generating temporary jobs and having better transportation routes, the optimization of logistics facilitates the construction of regional value chains and enhances the possibilities of attracting foreign investment for the benefit of all Hondurans," said CABEI's Executive President, Dr. Dante Mossi.

The acquisition of 88 units of heavy machinery through the program will make it possible to improve the tertiary and neighborhood road network in the country's municipalities, thus offering opportunities to boost the economy and generate jobs, market agricultural and other products from the areas, promote tourism, improve transportation and the population's access to basic health and education services.  For the State, it will represent a 21.5% reduction in the annual maintenance cost per kilometer. The availability of this machinery will enable the authorities to provide an agile response in the municipalities to emergencies caused by natural phenomena.

This initiative is framed within CABEI's 2020-2024 Institutional Strategy, in the Strategic Axes of Human Development and Social Inclusion and Sustainable Competitiveness, with which it plans to improve the well-being and quality of life of the population, in addition to contributing to the fulfillment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 8: promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all, 9: build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation, and 13: Climate Action.