MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Colombian ambassador next IDB president

Colombian Ambassador in Washington Luis Alberto Moreno was elected Wednesday as the new Inter American Development Bank, (IDB) President. He takes office next October for a five year teems and will be replacing Enrique Iglesias who held the job for 17 years.

"It was a quick vote, not unanimous but with an absolute majority", said IDB sources.

Mr. Moreno as of next October will also sit as head of the Inter American Investment Corporation, CII, and the Investments Multilateral Fund, FOMIN.

"It's a great honour for me and for Colombia", said Mr. Moreno following the IDB governors meeting in IDB Washington's headquarters Andres Bello Auditorium.

The current Colombian Ambassador was competing for the post with Joao Sayad from Brazil and IDB vice president; Peru's Economy Minister Pedro Pablo Kuczynski; Venezuela's Economy minister Jose Alejandro Rojas and Nicaragua's Central Bank president Mario Alonso. However Mr. Rojas and Mr. Alonso finally withdrew their candidacies.

Mr. Moreno managed the double majority of votes requested, both from country members and capital representation. United States holds 30% of the capital share.

IDB was created in 1959 to promote economic and social development in Latinamerica and the Caribbean, becoming the main multilateral financial institution for the region.

Mr. Moreno will be IDB's fourth president behind Felipe Herrera from Chile, 1970/1971; Mexico's Antonio Ortiz Mena, 1971/1987 and Enrique Iglesias from Uruguay who was named in 1988 and re-elected three times.

The incoming IDB president identified the main challenges as "social and poverty issues; millennium goals, private sector and critical infrastructure projects". However he added he was well aware that he would be replacing a "giant", Mr. Iglesias who "gave the bank the significance and international relevance it now enjoys".

Mr. Moreno has been head of the Colombian embassy in Washington since 1998, named by former president Andres Pastrana and ratified by current President Alvaro Uribe in 2002.

He is considered one of the architects in improving relations with Washington and behind the US funded Colombia Plan to combat the narcotics trade and links with Marxist oriented guerrillas that control 20% of the country's territory.

From 1982 to 1990 he was the producer of one of Colombia's main television news programs and between 1992 and 1994, Economic Development Minister. Mr. Moreno was born May/1953, is an economist from the University of Florida and is married to Gabriela Febres-Cordero.