The basin contract was signed at the first extraordinary ministerial meeting held in Brasilia from 22 to 23 April 1969. The treaty came into force on August 14, 1970, following joint efforts to promote economic development in the sub-region. Member States – Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – have developed operational agreements and legal instruments to identify areas of common interest in the region. In 2012, when the first Executive Chairman took office, the new management, in collaboration with FONplata`s governing bodies, developed a structured program to revitalize the Bank on the basis of short-term management objectives. As a result, the Governing Council approved a long-term plan, the Institutional Strategic Plan (IEP, for its Spanish acronym) and two capital increases. In December 2014, the Fund received a $75 million loan from the FINANCIAL Development Bank of Latin America. These funds have enabled the institutional strengthening of FONPLATA, the growth of the loan portfolio and the implementation of infrastructure projects and social and productive development projects in its member countries. Two capital increases were approved by the Governing Council, one of $1.15 billion on August 1, 2013 and the second increase on January 28, 2016, the capital amounts to more than $3 billion. The governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay held the 4th ministerial meeting in Asuncion on 6 June 1971 to “create an organization with international legal status, called the Financial Fund for the Development of River Basin Countries – FONPLATA”.
At the 6th session in Buenos Aires on 12 June 1974, the foreign ministers signed the FONplata agreement with international and permanent legal status. FONPLATA began operations in 1977, when the siege agreement with the Bolivian government came into force. The first headquarters are in Sucre, the capital of Bolivia. In December 2002, the Republic of Bolivia was ratified by Resolution 56 of the seventh meeting of foreign ministers of the river basin countries and by the decision of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Coordination of River Basin Countries as host country of FONPLATA at the 529th regular session.