The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced the approval of a $40.5 million grant to expand the Caracol Industrial Park, a modern manufacturing facility in northern Haiti. The resources will bolster the Haitian government’s efforts to attract more job-generating investments in an economically disadvantaged but potentially productive region.

The new grant for the state-owned industrial park will finance the construction of more factory shells, canteens, administrative buildings and other service facilities, roads and utility networks. The IDB provided $105 million for the first two phases of the project, launched in 2011, while the U.S. government donated the electricity generation plant that powers the factories and nearby communities.

Since it opened its doors, on April 1st, 2012, the Caracol Industrial Park has signed on four tenants, creating nearly 3,000 jobs in a region where there were few formal employment opportunities, particularly for women. The manufacturing facility complements other projects backed by the Haitian government and the donor community to boost development in the country’s northern departments.

The new grant includes resources for small infrastructure projects in communities close to the industrial park, such as improving roads or building bicycle lanes and bus stops. Additional studies will be carried out to monitor and evaluate the economic, social, and environmental impact of the industrial park.