Brazil is to host a meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on debt relief and regional projects in the country's southeastern city of Belo Horizonte Monday through Wednesday, according to local media.

Participants from Latin American and Caribbean nations are expected to focus on lessening the debt burden of the poorest nations in the region at the annual gathering, media reports said on Saturday.

Bolivia, Haiti, Honduras, Guyana and Nicaragua are reported to be among the nations appealing the bank to cancel their total debt of 3.5 billion U.S. dollars.

The Washington, D.C.-based bank is also expected to discuss the funding of Venezuela's plan to build a natural gas pipeline spanning South America and a highway project to connect Brazil's Atlantic coast to Peru's Pacific ports.

The 47-member IDB, which calls itself the world's oldest and largest regional development bank, was founded in 1959 to promote economic and social development. It has provided more than 100 billion dollars in development loans to Latin America and the Caribbean.

Source: Xinhua