MCC Visit Highlights Ongoing Progress with Compact Implementation

During the visit, scholarships were handed out to students in Chalatenango.

On January 27, Vice President of Operations for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Patrick Fine, and Mary Ryckman, MCC Board member from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) met with Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes to discuss progress made on implementing MCC’s $461 million Compact with El Salvador.

At the meeting, U.S. officials shared their positive evaluation of recent advances made by FOMILENIO, the Salvadoran implementing partner, and said that they anticipate a timely and successful conclusion in September of this year.

To date, FOMILENIO has committed 99% of its Compact funds for projects focused on economic development and poverty reduction activities in El Salvador’s Northern Zone.

Officials also met with the director of FOMILENIO, representatives of the private sector, and the new technical team in charge of coordinating El Salvador’s proposal for a second compact with the MCC, as approved by the MCC Board of Directors in December.

Salvadoran Technical Secretary, Alexander Segovia, has announced that the new proposal will focus on boosting development in El Salvador’s coastal marine area.

The officials also discussed Partnership for Growth, and the importance of addressing development goals identified by the Partnership in any new proposal.

Prior to their government meetings, the U.S. delegation visited several FOMILENIO project sites, including the Compact’s most visible project, the Northern Highway, a 219 km inter-departmental highway that will connect 94 municipalities in the Northern Zone.

They also took part in a ceremony to present high school scholarships to underprivileged youth in 17 schools, and visited the new campus of the Technological Institute of Chalatenango (ITCHA) where they met with local mayors, craftsmen and investors.