Mesoamerica Project

Mesoamerica Integration and Development Project
Abbreviation MIDP
Established 2008
Type Government Relations
Membership

10 countries

BelizeBelize
ColombiaColombia
Costa RicaCosta Rica
Dominican RepublicDominican Republic
El SalvadorEl Salvador
GuatemalaGuatemala
HondurasHonduras
MexicoMexico
NicaraguaNicaragua
PanamaPanama
Website

The Mesoamerica Integration and Development Project (Spanish: Proyecto Mesoamérica, or PM) is a regional mechanism specialized in implementing projects that deliver regional public goods for inclusive development and integration of the 10 participating countries that share a common history and culture: Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama.

The initiative was championed by the then president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, and agreed to by the governments of the respective participating nations.

Goals and financing

The objective of Mesoamerica Project is to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of the region’s population through social and economic development projects, based on sustainable development and integration through the delivery of regional public goods.

The work of the mechanism targets two main pillars in nine strategic sectors:

Economic Development Projects

· Transport

· Energy

· Telecommunications

· Trade facilitation and competitiveness

Social Development Projects

· Health

· Disaster risk management

· Environment

· Housing

· Food & nutrition security

The Mesoamerica Project has an innovative form of financing for the projects it supports, including contributions from each of its Member States, funds from Mesoamerican regional agencies, traditional aid, south south and triangular cooperation, as well as public-private partnerships.

Economic Projects

1. Transport

• The International Network of Mesoamerican Highway (RICAM)

• The Mesoamerican Integration Corridor (CMI)

• The Regional Bridges Programme

• Short Sea Shipping Maritime Transport (TMCD) in Mesoamerica

2. Energy

• Central America Electrical Interconnection System (SIEPAC)

• Electrical interconnection Mexico-Guatemala

• Electrical interconnection Panama-Colombia

• Efficient Lighting Strategy in Central America

• The Mesoamerican Network for Research and Development of Biofuels (RMIDB) integrated by academia representatives from member states.

3. Telecommunications

• The Mesoamerican Information Highway (AMI)

4. Trade Facilitation and competitiveness

• International Transit of Goods (TIM)

• Increased competitiveness and support for SMEs

• Mesoamerican Program for Coordinated Border Management (includes Authorized Economic Operators and One-Stop Shop mechanisms)

Social Projects focused on sustainable development

1. Health

Aims to attend priority areas in health for the region: vaccination, nutrition, maternal health and vector-transmitted diseases, through coordination with the Mesoamerican Public-Health System (SMSP) and the Mesoamerican 2015 Health Initiative.

2. Disaster risk management

Contributes to sustainable development in the region, with specific projects on climate change, sustainable competitiveness, biodiversity and forests implemented through the Mesoamerican Environmental Sustainability Strategy (EMSA).

3. Environment

Seeks to strengthen capacities of national agencies for civil protection, risk management and decision-making, using a harmonized IT platform for the analysis of threats and vulnerabilities, through:

• The Mesoamerican Comprehensive Risk Management Network (RM-GIR).

4. Housing

The objective is to contribute to the consolidation of a long-term and sustainable market to finance low-cost housing, help to resolve the housing backlog in the region by offering loans, addressed on the one hand to purchases, and on the other, to home maintenance, improvements and extensions, and to provide political impulse to land-use regulation and the improvement of city districts, through:

• The Central American Social Housing Development Program.

5. Food security and nutrition

Mesoamerica Against Hunger is a regional intervention implemented by FAO in order to strengthen food security and reduce hunger in highly vulnerable populations if the region.

History

The Puebla-Panama Plan was first announced by Mexico's President Vicente Fox on March 12, 2001[1] and officially launched on June 15, 2001.[2]

In March 2004, Fox officially announced the relaunch of the PPP. Among the changes made were a new emphasis on the aspects of the plan relating to social concerns.

After Felipe Calderón was elected president, he continued the project. He had been a proponent of the Mesoamerica Integration and Development Project which was now merged with a similar funding and infrastructure project, the Puebla-Panama Plan (PPP).[3]

The Mesoamerica Integration and Development Project was launched in 2008 by the Heads of State and Government of Colombia, Mexico and Central America during the X Summit of the Tuxtla Dialogue and Consultation Mechanism, thus becoming the technical instance for cooperation and integration within this mechanism.

Calderón expanded the Mesoamerican Integration and Development Project, now including Colombia,[4] and has stated that "the challenge (of the mechanism) is to foster democratic practices with solid foundation in the region".[5]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Davis, Celia; Beas, Carlos Beas; and Call, Wendy, "Plan Puebla Panamá Exists and Mesoamerica Resists," page 2. Unión de Comunidades Indígenas de la Zona Norte del Istmo, 2006. Translated by Brendan O’Neill.
  2. ↑ http://www.iadb.org/ppp/pppdescription.asp
  3. ↑ Mexican summit set to relaunch Puebla-Panama Plan
  4. ↑ Mexico’s Calderon gives life to Puebla-Panama Plan
  5. ↑ El gran reto para la región es cimentar las prácticas democráticas, dice Calderón by Milenio Diario
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