:::..::: Press Releases :::..:::

MIAMI, September 6, 2007—The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced today the selection of Miami as the host city for the 49th annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank and the 23rd annual meeting of the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) Boards of Governors to be held April 4-8, 2008.
Jorge L. Arrizurieta, former U.S. alternate executive director at the IDB and currently Chair of the International Policy Practice at Akerman Senterfitt, will serve as Chairman of the IDB Miami 2008 Host Committee. The group will be responsible for structuring and organizing the necessary fund-raising from both the public and private sectors and will coordinate with the IDB to ensure the operational success of this meeting. The IDB Host Committee plans to raise US$8 million from the public and private sector to support the infrastructure and ensure the success of the upcoming meeting.
“The selection of Miami is another crowning achievement in South Florida’s history of hosting internationally significant events,” Arrizurieta said. “The IDB and the region will be well served by choosing to meet in a community and state that for decades has been the business center for the Americas.”
“The private-public sector partnership will enhance the impact and outcome of this meeting and allow participants and this community to witness first hand the important accomplishments of the IDB throughout the hemisphere,” said Mitchell Berger, finance chairman for the IDB Host Committee. Arrizurieta and other private sector partners and the participating municipalities that make up the host committee, have begun the outreach to potential sponsors and supporters.
The IDB was originally created as a partnership between 19 Latin American countries and the United States to foster sustainable economic growth and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean through its lending operations, leadership in regional initiatives, research and knowledge dissemination activities, institutes and programs. Today, 47 countries form part of the IDB.
Each year in late March or early April, the Boards of Governors of the IDB and the IIC meet in one of the bank's member countries. The 2007 meeting was held March 16-20 in Guatemala City.
Miami, a city that is almost as much in Latin America as it is in the United States due to its position as a regional gateway and popularity with international visitors and residents, is home to more than 500 headquarters of some of the largest multinational companies who value South Florida for its close connections to Latin American and Caribbean markets. The last Boards of Governors annual meeting held in the United States took place in New Orleans in 2000 and prior to that in Miami in 1987.
Miami resident and renowned Brazilian artist Romero Britto has been commissioned to serve as the artistic director for the 2008 forum and will also design the forum’s logo. Britto, who is known for his colorful and optimistic neo-pop cubist style and whose art is shown in more than 140 galleries around the world, has been commissioned by some of the world's most important brands throughout his career.