The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says it has partnered with Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) in promoting and developing “socially responsible capital markets” through investments in IDB social bonds focused on education-youth-employment (EYE) in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Washington-based financial institution on Wednesday said that its social (EYE) bonds “foster human capital development from the classroom to the workplace”.

“The funds raised through them will finance projects in Latin America and the Caribbean that promote effective teaching and learning for children and youth, giving them skills needed to enter the labour market and contribute productively to society,” the IDB said. Claudia Bock-Valotta, IDB’s vice-president for finance and administration, said: “We are honoured to partner with GPIF to further the development of socially responsible investments.

“The collaboration between GPIF and IDB integrates social aspects into fixed income investments to support IDB in improving lives in Latin America and the Caribbean,” she added. Hiro Mizuno, executive managing director and chief investment officer of GPIF, said he was honoured to take part in the IDB’s “life cycle” approach to solving challenges of poverty and inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean, through commitments in improving the quality of children’s education and providing greater employment opportunities.

“GPIF requires our asset managers to integrate ESG into their investment analysis and decision-making,” he said. “We regard the purchase of green, social and sustainability bonds as one of the direct methods of ESG integration in the fixed-income investment,”

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