Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America

The Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA) is a development plan to link South America's economies through new transportation, energy, and telecommunications projects.

IIRSA investments are expected to integrate highway networks, river ways, hydroelectric dams and telecommunications links throughout the continent—particularly in remote, isolated regions—to allow greater trade and create a South American community of nations.

The initiative was launched in late 2000 with the participation of the 12 countries of South America which form the Union of South American Nations. It is being supported by the Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the River Plate Basin Financial Development Fund (FONPLATA). Together the three institutions form the Technical Coordination Committee (CCT) which provides technical and financial support for IIRSA activities.

The project is subdivided in several regions, called hubs.

Within the Guianese Shield Hub, 4 groups of projects have been identified.

The anchor project within the first group is the rehabilitation of the Caracas-Manaus road.

The anchor project within the second group is the improvement of Boa Vista-Bonfim-Lethem-Georgetown road. The construction of the Takutu River Bridge between Guyana and Brazil on this road was a separate project within IIRSA, as is the construction of a deep water port in northern Guyana and a hydropower plant in Amaila, among others.

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