The Challenge: The Americas seek to facilitate economic prosperity, security, and good governance. The Americas face a shortfall in infrastructure investment, which drags on economic growth. The region needs $100-150 billion in new annual infrastructure investment. Growing population centers and economic markets necessitate increased investment to ensure market diversification, energy security, and continued growth.
The Initiative: The Growth in the Americas • América Cresce initiative is an innovative, whole-of-government approach to support economic development by catalyzing private sector investment in energy and other infrastructure projects across Latin America and the Caribbean. The hemispheric goal is to foster job creation and jumpstart economic growth by facilitating urgently needed infrastructure projects.
Sustainability: América Cresce centers on building an enabling environment for private sector investment in infrastructure that is transparent, competitive, and in line with international best practices. It focuses on infrastructure, including, but not limited to, energy, telecommunications, ports, roads, and airports. América Cresce leverages a comprehensive toolbox to support energy and infrastructure sector projects from early-stage feasibility studies through final investment decisions to help countries improve their regulatory frameworks and procurement structures to meet the requirements of limited-recourse project financing.
Partnerships: América Cresce works closely with governments across the region, using tools including high-level diplomatic engagement, formal framework MOUs, technical assistance and exchanges, as well as leveraging existing bilateral dialogues and regional forums to share best practices bilaterally and through regional institutions, business associations, and civil society groups.
Private Sector Investment: América Cresce seeks to attract greater private sector infrastructure investments by connecting the U.S. private sector to opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Activities include hosting business-to-business and business-to-government roundtables, supporting trade missions and study tours, undertaking commercial feasibility studies, sharing best practices to improve the investment climate, and supporting project financing. América Cresce streamlines access for the private sector to the relevant U.S. government resources.
Whole-of-Government: América Cresce taps into the programs, resources and expertise of numerous U.S. government agencies to help engage with governments, secure financing, assess and mitigate risk, and strengthen regulatory environments for investors. The core agencies include the Departments of State, Treasury, Commerce, and Energy as well as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).
