Colombia submits application for admission to the New BRICS Development Bank

From China, President Gustavo Petro announced this Friday that Colombia has formally submitted a request to join the New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS.

(Read: Is the Bogotá Metro at stake due to the US veto on Chinese companies? This is what the Mayor's Office said .)

In Shanghai, during his official visit to the country, the Colombian president revealed the news at the end of a meeting with Dilma Rousseff, the current president of the multilateral development bank (BRICS), created by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (the acronym for this bloc of countries) in 2015.

The request was submitted through a letter signed by the Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Germán Ávila Plazas, in which he expressed Colombia's interest in joining the NDB as a borrowing member.

(See: What's next for Colombia after signing the adhesion to the Silk Road and the Belt ).

If included, the country could receive low-interest loans from the New Development Bank to finance development projects in infrastructure, renewable energy, health, and other sectors.

Minister Ávila informed Rousseff that Colombia “is willing to subscribe to 5,125 shares of the authorized capital of the New Development Bank, of which 4,100 correspond to callable shares (as collateral) and 1,025 correspond to paid-in shares (in cash).”

"This is equivalent to a subscribed capital (total amount committed to contribute) of USD 512.5 million (2.1 trillion pesos), which includes a callable capital of USD 410 million (1.7 trillion pesos) and a paid-in capital of USD 102.5 million (429 billion pesos)," the letter states.

The first payment, the minister indicates in the application letter, will be made within six months of the date Colombia submits its adhesion document to the Brazilian government.

(Also: US decision: it will veto financing to Chinese companies in Colombia ).

According to the Presidency of the Republic, Colombia's application to join the New Development Bank (NDB) marks a step toward diversifying international financing sources and consolidating alliances with emerging economies.

"The NDB will represent a concrete alternative for the country to traditional financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the World Bank," the government said.

Joining this entity would allow Colombia to access loans with favorable conditions and strengthen its response capacity to challenges such as climate change and global economic crises.

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