Proclamation 4728—Inter-American Development Bank Day

The destinies of the people of North America and the people of Latin America have long been linked. Because of that relationship, one of the tools for the fulfillment of Latin American and Caribbean aspirations for economic and social development is a hemispheric framework of cooperation.

The Inter-American Development Bank is an important part of that framework. It began operations twenty years ago as a mutual effort by the United States and Latin America to promote progress in the hemisphere. Since 1960, the Bank has grown to embrace the nations of the Caribbean and, as contributors, Canada and 15 developed nations outside the hemisphere.

In the course of its first two decades, the Inter-American Development Bank has committed over $16 billion in development loans to bring electricity and running water to Latin American villages, to provide schools and health care for overcrowded cities, to supply credit to small farmers and entrepreneurs, and to promote a modern infrastructure for Latin American economies. Through its own strong efforts, assisted by the Inter-American Development Bank, Latin America as a region has achieved high real growth rates in recent years?resulting in improved living standards and expanding opportunities for trade and investment.

February 1980?the twentieth anniversary of the first meeting of the governing body of the Inter-American Development Bank?is a good time for the American people to take note of the success of a bold experiment in hemispheric sharing.

Now, Therefore, I, Jimmy Carter, President of the United States of America, proclaim February 29, 1980, as Inter-American Development Bank Day, in recognition of the role of the Inter-American Development Bank and in reaffirmation of the commitment of the American people and Government to the Bank and to the cause of peaceful economic and social progress in the hemisphere. I direct the Secretary of the Treasury, as United States Governor of the Inter-American Development Bank, to communicate this proclamation to the authorities of the Bank and to each of its member governments.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of February in the year .of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fourth.

JIMMY CARTER