The infrastructure officials of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) assembled on November 30, 2011, at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, on the occasion of the Second Ministerial Meeting of the South American Infrastructure and Planning Council (COSIPLAN).
During the meeting, chaired by the Brazilian Minister of Planning, Ms. Miriam Belchior, the South American ministers of infrastructure approved the Integration Priority Project Agenda (API), which provides for a US$13.7 billion estimated investment in works for regional integration purposes between 2012 and 2022, including road, port and rail connections.
API consists of 31 infrastructure projects (comprising 88 individual projects), involving a joint investment by the twelve UNASUR Member Countries.
COSIPLAN has based its analysis on IIRSA Project Portfolio, made up of 531 investment projects amounting to US$116 billion, 12% of which have been fully completed in the last twelve years, while 30% of them are in execution and another 30% are at an advanced stage of preparation. The 31 works identified as a “priority” form part of such Project Portfolio and involve mostly roads, bridges, railways and waterways.
They also include a transmission line between Asunción and the Itaipu Dam as well as a gas pipeline between Bolivia and northern Argentina.
The Strategic Action Plan (PAE) 2012-2022, which establishes the objectives and actions to be taken during such period within the COSIPLAN framework, was also approved at the meeting. This plan is mainly aimed at improving project implementation and completion tools, incorporating social participation mechanisms, addressing the financing of projects with a high impact on the region, and harmonizing the regulatory and institutional frameworks of the South American countries.
The COSIPLAN agreed to set up three work groups. The purpose of the first one is to define the financing and guarantee mechanisms necessary to facilitate the API projects with the support of the national and regional development banks.
The second work group, devoted to Telecommunications in South America, will discuss the actions and sources of finance necessary for the fiber-optic broadband ring that is expected to interconnect the South American countries.
Finally, the third work group will encourage discussion about South American Rail Integration, particularly regarding the construction of the Bioceanic Railway Corridor for the purpose of linking the ports of Santos and Paranaguá to the Chilean ports of Antofagasta and Mejillones through the Argentine and Uruguayan territories.
Below are the documents approved at the Second COSIPLAN Meeting:
