Tackling climate change, deeper private sector engagement and enhancing multilateral development are top priorities as Brazil takes over the chairmanship of the Board of Governors (BOG) of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

The new BOG Chair, Dr. Renata Vargas Amaral, Brazil's Secretary for International Affairs and Development, laid out a comprehensive vision aimed at strengthening the CDB's role and effectiveness as the Bank’s 54th Annual Meeting wrapped up on June 20, 2024, in Ottawa, Canada.  

As Brazil also assumes the G20 Presidency, Dr. Amaral emphasised the country's commitment to enhancing Multilateral Development Banks. "Our Presidency is committed to enhancing Multilateral Development Banks, aiming for them to become bigger, better, and more effective. The CDB has the potential to achieve these goals in the short term," she noted.

Highlighting key areas such as the G20 Capital Adequacy Framework Review Recommendations and balance sheet optimisation transactions, Dr. Amaral also underscored the importance of involving the private sector for sustainable growth. “Among our initiatives for the next months and years, we need to bring the private sector together. In this sense, I encourage the strengthening of the relationship with the private sector for the sustainable growth of the region and the need for the bank to intensify its efforts to support private sector growth, lifting the private sector as a key partner for development,” she explained.

The CDB Governor for Brazil also pointed out the significant impact of climate change on the Caribbean, emphasising that individual countries cannot adequately address it alone. "Multilateral institutions like the CDB are crucial in coordinating and funding solutions tailored to the Region's needs. Therefore, the Bank has to be more responsive, and strengthening and developing the CDB's capacity to answer extraordinary situations caused by climate change is not optional; it is a mandatory task for all of us," she stressed.

Dr. Amaral took the reins from Hon. Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s Minister of International Development. The handover of the chairmanship from Canada to Brazil marked the closing of CDB’s 54th Annual Meeting which ran from June 17 – 20, 2024. Brazil’s chairmanship of the BOG will culminate in June 2025 with the hosting of the 55th Annual Meeting in Brasilia.