The Inter-American Development Bank is opening a new office in the United States for the first time in 67 years. In Miami — because, why not?
But in contrast to many of the region’s recent arrivals, the IDB Group, the organization’s acronym, knows Miami well and has long worked in Latin America and the Caribbean. The region’s largest development bank provided $35 billion in financing in 2025.
The Washington, D.C. headquartered lender is also familiar with Miami’s hype cycles. The bank has decided it’s seeing more than froth in the region, a significant endorsement for the city’s hopes to become a global financial hub.
“I think Miami has become the Wall Street of the South,” Ilan Goldfajn, IDB Group president, said in an interview with the Miami Herald. “It’s the place where companies are.”
Importantly, the Brazilian economist said Miami still has the largest focus on Latin America. “If I have to engage with the U.S., this is the place to be,” he said in a phone interview on Monday.
The new Miami office, which will be announced at an event in Miami Beach on Tuesday evening, will focus on private investment. It’s likely to be a boon to entrepreneurs building companies in South Florida and looking for capital as well as Miami-based companies seeking to grow in Latin America.
The opening also comes at a time when the IDB is changing focus. It has long worked with governments and provided them long-term financing for infrastructure projects. Now, “we’re shifting quite a bit to private led development,” said Goldfajn, former head of Brazil’s central bank.
The Miami’s office will be the IDB’s first in the U.S. outside of Washington, D.C. It has offices in Spain, Japan and all 26 member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The organization’s headquarters will remain in Washington.
The majority of staffers in the Miami office when it opens will be from IDB Labs and IDB Invest, the innovation arm and the private sector arms of the bank. Today, IDB Invest has 550 employees. By the end of 2027, it will have 750. IDB Invest recently received a $3.5 billion capital increase.
The IDB Group expects its financing capacity to reach $500 billion over the next decade.
IDB Invest recently invested in Miami-based Cisneros Real Estate to finance the Four Seasons Tropicalia in the Dominican Republic, providing $50 million in direct funding.
Below are edited excerpts from the Miami Herald’s interview with Goldfajn:
Ilan Goldfajn, IDB Group President, speaks Courtesy of iDB Q: Explain why the new office now and why Miami?
A: There’s a very important shift in the multilateral bank in general, and the IDB in particular.
It used to be concentrated in lending and financing governments. Now we are moving into more and more how can the private sector help us reach our goals in terms of growth, poverty, income and jobs. We’re shifting quite a bit to private led development.
We realize we need the private sector. We believe Miami is the right place in the U.S. to focus on the private sector.
Q: Who will be in the new office?
A: We’ll put IDB Invest and IDB Labs in Miami.
The majority will be people from IDB Invest and IDB Lab. Initially, for now we will bring people from D.C. Eventually we will probably need to hire more people. We are still in the process of deciding how many staff.
We need a new place in the U.S. It will not substitute our HQ in Washington.
Q: To receive capital or any investment from IDB Invest, will a company need to be based in Miami?
A: No. It can be anywhere in the U.S. The only requirement is they have a relationship with Latin America or want to do business there. The overall focus will always be on Latin America.
Q: What more is changing about the IDB?
A: We are becoming a private sector-led multilateral development bank.
Our IDB has just received twice its capital. IDB Labs has just received new replenishment for grants.
We are in a completely new phase. IDB Labs will invest in startups. Sometimes it’ll take equity positions. Sometimes it will provide technical cooperation grants.
Q: Miami has gone through busts and booms. Are you seeing something today that’s different, more sustainable?
A: It takes a few decades. I think it has gotten a substantial mass of migration and investment.
I think the momentum is there. It’s based on the opportunities, the regulations, tax system and climate.
Q: Miami has changed for you but so has Latin America. The region has seen lots of innovation in the past two decades. Do Latin American entrepreneurs still need Miami?
A: Your description is very good. When a Multilateral {such as the IDB] enters a market, it’s interested in mature investors that are looking for long-term investments in a way that creates jobs.
We’re taking advantage of a maturity, looking to use what they created in Latin America. It’s in a completely different phase.
And in Miami, something is happening.
This story was originally published March 24, 2026 at 5:18 PM.
Miami Herald
Vinod Sreeharsha covers tourism trends in South Florida for the Miami Herald.