Network of Region's Public Investment Institutions Expands

The Network of National Public Investment Systems (Red SNIP, in Spanish), which groups the state institutions that are responsible for evaluating the social impact of public investment projects, launched a platform (only available in Spanish) that brings together information about national authorities, methodologies and legislation pertaining to this issue from its 16 Latin American member countries.

This Network was created in 2010 with the goal of improving management of public investments by exchanging experiences, documents and training systems, among other things. It is backed by the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES) of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), as well as by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.

These national systems generally intervene in all stages of a public investment project (design, formulation, execution, monitoring and evaluation) and therefore they influence the quantity, quality and orientation of these investments. For that reason, they are strategic partners for bringing about the structural change that ECLAC promotes to achieve development with equality in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Network's new site has a complete database with the general and sector-based methodologies that different countries use in their respective evaluations. An interactive guide allows for these documents to be consulted quickly. They can be downloaded in PDF format and are classified according to themes such as human capital, science and technology, communications, sports, and energy-among other topics.

Information is also provided on the laws, decrees and norms that in each country regulate, organize and specify the procedures, characteristics and limits affecting the national public investment systems. In addition, details are given on annual meetings by the Network and pertinent national authorities, who tend to belong to the economy, finance or planning ministries in each country.

The information, which is being made available to the public now, could be of particular interest to scholars and those national officials who seek to compare their respective systems.

This platform was launched in collaboration with the Network's member states: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.