The Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional (FDN) has structured alternative ways of funding projects in Colombia to enable foreign financial entities to provide financing in Colombian pesos (COP).

FDN funding options include:

• Funding to be provided by the FDN to foreign financial entities, backed by a guarantee from the entities' parent companies, so that the entities can lend to the concession holders;
• Funding to be provided by the FDN to sub-funds of local private equity funds of foreign entities; and
• Loans by the FDN to multilateral institutions that, by making use of the foreign exchange rules authorization, can lend to concession holders in Colombian pesos.

With this initiative, the Colombian government hopes to:

• Accelerate the country’s financial growth.
• Mobilize resources with the participation of foreign lenders, including international banks and multilateral entities in Colombian projects. These projects include transportation and 4G projects (which need financing in an amount of 32 billion COP); energy; and social projects, such as schools, museums and jails.
• Finance projects that have US dollars indebtedness limits or that have neither revenues nor sources of payment in US dollars.
• Promote international standards in environmental safety, social responsibility and corporate integrity through the financing of projects in Colombia that require compliance with such standards.

At Dentons Cardenas & Cardenas we can offer guidance on how to take advantage of this new funding line.