Gustavo Petro and Dilma Rousseff (Image: President’s Office)
Colombia has been admitted to the development bank of international trade organization BRICS, bank president Dilma Rousseff announced on Thursday.
In a statement, the office of President Gustavo Petro called the admission to the New Development Bank “a historic milestone for the country and a strategic step towards the diversification of financing sources for the development of structural and sustainable projects.”
Petro formally requested to join the bank in a meeting with Rousseff in the Chinese city Shanghai in May.
Colombia’s entry to the New Development Bank would allow Colombian governments to seek investment loans outside institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the Inter-American Development Bank that have historically demanded neoliberal policy changes in return.
Joining the BRICS’ development bank is part of a broader strategy that seeks to make Colombia less dependent on the United States, its largest trading partner.
While in Shanghai, Petro also signed an agreement to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks improved bilateral relations when it comes to the development of critical infrastructure.
These new deals became a priority for the Petro administration after the sudden imposition of tariffs on Colombian exports to the US by American President Donald Trump.
