Quarterly Newsletter

Each issue of the quarterly newsletter of the IFC Office for Advisory Services in Latin America and the Caribbean features articles on program areas and/or projects, as well as updates on the office's progress and events.

• Main article

• In the News

• Perspectives

• Highlights

• Brief Notes

• IFC Launches the Municipal Scorecard 2007 Report: The report aims at promoting municipal reforms that help reduce the regulatory burden and improve the business climate in Latin America.
• Creating Shared Value in Coffee Production in Central America and Mexico: The ECOM-Nestle Supply Chain: IFC has recently signed a cooperation agreement with ECOM and Nestle to implement an advisory project that will help about 8,000 coffee farmers increase production.
• Read this edition (pdf)

• The Four Key Steps to Simplying Business Regulation in Honduras: Removing the appropriate bottlenecks will reduce the number of days to issue an operating license from 35 to 3
• Better Urban Planning, Improved Citizen Safety and Access to Credit: Benefits of Simplying Procedures to Obtain a Construction Permit: IFC and the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima (MML) partnership for reform is already realizing successful results
• Read this edition (pdf)

• Municipal Capacity Building Enhances Local Benefits from Mining: IFC has helped the municipality of Los Baños del Inca to boost public works financed by tax-sharing from mining operations.
• Win-Win Business Partnerships: Enhancing Local Benefits in Peru's Cuzco Sacred Valley: IFC and Peru Orient Express Hotels and Peru Rail (POEH/PR) collaborated in a pilot project to create successful commercial links between the com¬pany and local producers and service providers.
• Read this edition (pdf)

• Access to Finance for Economic Inclusion: TheTA office is working with microfinance institutions (MFIs) to strengthen their ability to serve MSMEs; is supporting the development of financial leasing markets; and, is focusing on enhancing credit bureaus to enable lower income individuals to establish accurate credit history and be charged interest rates commensurate with risk.
• Improving SME Access to Finance in Nicaragua: TheTA office is supporting FINDESA’s transformation to a commercial bank, providing a more sustainable and effective model for microfinance institutions in Latin America.
• Read this edition (pdf)

• Improving International Market Access via Better Forestry: IFC TA office has helped Nicaraguan businesses and forest communities to increase certified lumber exports and bring 27% of national forests under sustainable management.
• A Progressive Approach to Forestry in Bolivia: TheTA office assisted local wood sector small and medium enterprises in Bolivia in creating a new business plan, financial model, and balanced scorecard to enhance their financial transparency and organization.
• Read this edition (pdf)

• The Simpler Path: Cutting Red Tape in Lima: Business Enabling Environment (BEE) assisted Lima’s municipal government to simplify procedures for business registration.
• Simplifying Business Regulations in Nicaragua... In Triplicate: Business Enabling Environment (BEE) working with Nicaragua's Granada, León, and Masaya to simplify municipal procedures for obtaining operating licenses.
• Read this edition (pdf)

• IFC Supports Sustainability of Minera Yanacocha’s Mine: Enhancing Local Benefits program (ELB) in Peru’s Cajamarca region aids local governments in channeling revenues from gold mine into infrastructure investments.
• Best Practices in Supply Chain Development: Enhancing Local Benefits program (ELB) maps small and medium enterprises supplier/distributor development programs in Colombia to distill best practices from case studies.
• Read this edition (pdf)

• Integrating Technical Assistance with the Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Strategy
• Enhancing Local Benefits (ELB): Working with IFC clients and the communities in which they operate to deepen the local impact of IFC investments.
• Read this edition (pdf)