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TOKYO, JAPAN — The Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group) has signed two Memorandums of Cooperation (MoC) with the government of Japan to advance their joint work on health systems, digital health, long-term care, resilient infrastructure, and urban development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The two agreements are part of a package that expands resources from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to $6.5 billion, and is expected to generate co-financing of approximately $7.5 billion based on the average of the last years, totaling $14 billion of financing to the region; establishes a $30 million non-reimbursable Japan Resilience Initiative for critical minerals and other areas; creates a new risk-transfer instrument using NEXI loan insurance for IDB loans; and renews the agreement with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to identify co-financing opportunities including in critical minerals, sustainability infrastructure, energy transition, resilient supply chain, food security, and green finance.
Advancing health, care, and digital transformation
Under a new Memorandum of Cooperation, the IDB Group, Japan’s ministry of finance, and JICA will deepen collaboration in long-term care, health system strengthening, universal health coverage, and digital health transformation. Building on Japan’s experience in addressing demographic change and population aging, the partnership seeks to support more accessible, resilient, and sustainable health and care systems across Latin America and the Caribbean.
The agreement will advance IDB Cares, the IDB Group’s flagship initiative to accelerate investments and strengthen care systems through improved governance, financing, service quality, workforce development, and the adoption of innovative care technologies, including community- and home-based care models.
It also reinforces cooperation on digital health initiatives, including the Pan-American Highway for Digital Health (PH4H), supporting interoperable health services, telehealth, digital medical records, artificial intelligence applications, cybersecurity, and other patient-centered solutions to expand access to quality healthcare.
The cooperation also creates opportunities to draw on IDB Lab’s experience connecting innovation, technology, and entrepreneurial ecosystems, including by exploring links between Japanese expertise and solutions and emerging health and care needs across the region.
Scaling high-quality, resilient infrastructure
In another Memorandum of Cooperation, the IDB and Japan’s ministry of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism agreed to expand collaboration to promote high-quality and resilient infrastructure investments in Latin America and the Caribbean. The agreement establishes a framework to identify collaboration opportunities with strong development impact and advance cooperation in infrastructure sectors critical to sustainable growth.
The partnership — drawing on Japan’s global leadership in disaster preparedness – will support more resilient transport, water and sanitation, housing, and urban infrastructure systems by integrating disaster risk management, environmental considerations, and technological innovation into planning and implementation.