Press Release: President Clinton Visits Colombia

President Clinton tours projects of the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative and participates in the Inter-American Development Bank’s annual meeting

New York, NY – This weekend, continuing his visit to Latin America, President Bill Clinton traveled to Colombia to visit projects launched by the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative (CGSGI). In Cartagena, the former President toured a unique “inverse trade fair” organized by CGGSI that enabled 150 local suppliers of goods and services to forge relationships with six area hotels that currently purchase very little from local sources, but which have committed via CGSGI to purchase 20 percent of goods and services from local suppliers. In Barranquilla, President Clinton visited one of three community schools opened by the Pies Descalzos Foundation in which CGSGI is investing $2 million to support nutrition, vocational training, and income generation programs for two years. The school in Barranquilla serves more than 1,500 disadvantaged youth.

In Medellín, President Clinton visited with the founder and workers of TANA, an organic spice business in the rural area of Quibdó that involves 150 Afro-Colombian women. CGSGI is supporting these women’s efforts to grow the business and identify new markets, and thereby advance the development of their community. President Clinton described this and other projects of the Clinton Foundation during a keynote discussion with Luis Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), at the IDB’s annual meeting.

“I’m so pleased to visit Latin America again, to visit the work of my Foundation,” President Clinton said. “From Afro-Colombian businesswomen in rural Colombia to thousands of Peruvians who’ve lost their vision due to cataracts, we’re helping to connect people with the markets, education, nutrition, health care, and other tools they need to create jobs, lift themselves from poverty, and drive sustainable development in their communities.”

Building on his longstanding commitment to Latin America, CGSGI is a project of the Clinton Foundation that is working in Peru and Colombia – at the invitation of the national governments – to create jobs, increase incomes, and strengthen health, education, and other building blocks of productivity – all in ways that are locally sustainable. CGSGI is pursuing these objectives in partnership with the private sector, the Carlos Slim Foundation, local communities and NGOs, and other key stakeholders.

The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), another project of the Clinton Foundation, has made significant impact throughout Latin America. Through CGI, a diverse array of CEOs and world leaders have made 239 commitments affecting Latin America that are valued at more than $8 billion. Many of these commitments relate to poverty alleviation, climate change, and clean energy.

The Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) is working in Bogotá, Lima, and other cities in Latin America to improve energy efficiency and address climate change, with a focus on building retrofits, waste management, transportation systems, and outdoor lighting.

Photo credit: Ricardo Perez Vergara/ Clinton Foundation

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