U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has signed separate agreements with Honduras and El Salvador to support an initiative aimed at strengthening economic growth and development in those countries.
Secretary Clinton signed the memoranda of understanding Wednesday with Honduran President Porfirio Lobo and Salvadoran Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez in New York, where the U.N. General Assembly is being held.
The initiative is known as BRIDGE - Building Remittance Investment for Development Growth and Entrepreneurship. It is designed to help strengthen economic growth through remittances sent from abroad as part of a goal to bring more people into the financial system. The Inter American Development Bank has estimated that Latin America and the Caribbean receive $50 billion in worker remittances each year from the United States.
