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18 19 them from over-exploitation and natural disasters. “Sustainable development is without a doubt at the core of the future of Belize, of the econ- omy and of people’s quality of life, and it is essential that everybody get this right going forward,” Katzman said. “We are focused on building lasting solutions to difficult problems that have been bottlenecks for the country. Being able to solve [those challenges] in an inclusive way that creates new entrepreneurial op- portunities for people who are economically disadvantaged is the kind of solution that we are looking at to really get to the heart of what we mean as sustainability.” It is essential, she emphasized, to work together on a comprehensive plan to re- duce Belize’s vulnerability to climate change, storms and flooding, noting that for each dollar spent on risk reduction investments, it is possible to reduce up to four dollars in future losses caused by disasters. Killmer said that 29 percent of the IDB’s $9.3 billion in approvals for sovereign-guaranteed lending in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2016 was dedicated to projects focusing on cli- mate change and environmental sustainability. “In Belize, where natural capital is at the core of economic and social development, mainstreaming biodiversity and integrating it in key economic sectors with measures to strengthen resilience to climate change is paramount for sustainable development,” she OPENING LINES said during the forum. Preservation of natural capital is vital in a country like Belize, where the tourism sector supports one in every six jobs, she noted. The IDB strongly supports the government’s growth and sustainable development strategy, its coastal zone management plan, and its sus- tainable tourism program, the second phase of which the bank is currently financing. The IDB also is closely collaborating on the new mas- ter transport plan, which will increase regional competitiveness and expand the number of communities able to capitalize on the country’s tourism potential. During its mission in Belize, the IDB delega- tion, accompanied by officials of relevant min- istries, visited sites associated with the Sustain- able Tourism Program II, financed by the IDB, including the international water taxi terminal in San Pedro, the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, as well as the Caracol archeological site.