Links to the State Department’s website for background on the country’s political environment.

The IDB Group is an international finance institution owned by governments from around the world. Membership in the three institutions that constitute the IDB Group is as follows:

  • Inter-American Development Bank; 48 member countries
  • IDB Invest (formerly Inter-American Investment Corporation - IIC); 45 member countries
  • Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF); 39 member countries

Cuba is the only major country in the Western Hemisphere region that is not a member of any of the IDB Group.                                                                                                                                                                                     
Each shareholding country appoints one Governor and one Alternate Governor appointed by each member country, typically the country's minister of finance (the Secretary of the Treasury in the case of the United States), governor of its central bank, or a senior official of similar rank. The Board of Governors is the highest decision-making body in the IDB.

Aside from a few major overarching powers enumerated in the Articles of Agreement, the Board of Governors delegates its powers to a 14 member  Board of Executive Directors. The United States and Canada each have their own Executive Director. All 46 other countries are represented by multi-constituency Executive Directors.

Member countries are allocated votes at the time of membership and subsequently for additional subscriptions to capital. Votes are allocated differently in each organization. The United States is the largest shareholder at the IDB with 30 percent of the bank’s capital subscription.

Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.