White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump announced here a new initiative to allocate $150 million in seed money to facilitate access to capital for Latin American female entrepreneurs.

"Today we launched 2X Americas, a new US initiative which will commit $150 million and mobilise a total of $500 million to provide Latin American women with access to capital, jobs and opportunities to prosper," Efe news quoted Ivanka as saying on Friday at a press conference.

Ivanka, who is in Lima for the eighth Summit of the Americas, said that "like women in so many places around the world, women in Latin America are often challenged to access financial services, facing the largest credit gap globally".

"2X Americas will empower women in Latin America," she added.

"And when women are successful, families are successful, communities are successful and countries are successful."

The initiative is managed by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) - the US government's development finance institution - which has already committed $1 billion internationally and has decided to create a program specific to Latin America.

The event was also attended by US Acting Secretary of State John Sullivan, who said that every country must ensure that their economy is "a place where women are able to work and prosper."

Ivanka on Thursday visited the Lima Stock Exchange, as well as a women-owned company dedicated to making organic food products, before attending a dinner with participants of the third CEO Summit of the Americas.

The US will be officially represented at the summit by Vice President Mike Pence.

--IANS

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