Banco Latinoamericano De Exportaciones S.A. Declares Annual Dividend of $1.25 On Common Shares.

Business Editors

PANAMA CITY, Republic of Panama--(BUSINESS WIRE)--February 8, 2000

Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones, S.A. (BLADEX) (NYSE:BLX), today reported that its Board of Directors, at a meeting held on February 4, 2000, declared an annual dividend of US$1.25 per common share, an increase of 30%, compared to the US$0.96 dividend paid in 1999. This dividend is payable on March 3, 2000 to stockholders of record as of February 18, 2000. As of February 7, 2000, BLADEX had 19,913,725 common shares outstanding.

The aggregate amount of the common stock dividend declared is approximately 26% of BLADEX's reported net income for 1999, after payment of preferred stock dividends.

At the same meeting, the Board of Directors also declared an annual cash dividend of $2.26 per preferred share, payable in two equal installments on May 15, 2000 and November 15, 2000 to preferred stockholders of record as of April 28, 2000 and October 31, 2000 respectively. BLADEX's preferred stock outstanding as of February 7, 2000, were 1,689,120 preferred shares.

BLADEX, with $5.2 billion in assets, is a specialized multinational bank whose mission is to contribute to the sustained development of the Latin American and the Caribbean region by financing foreign trade and productive activities. Its shareholders include the central banks and 206 commercial banks from 23 countries of the Region, as well as international banks and private investors.

For further information access our Web site in the Internet at: www.blx.com, or call:

BLADEX, Head Office, Calle 50 y Aquilino de la Guardia, Panama, Panama Attention: Carlos Yap, Vice President, Investor Relations Tel. No. [phone], e-mail: [e-mail],

BLADEX, New York Agency, 1185 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd floor, New York, NY 10036 Attention Tom Keresztes, General Manager, New York Agency Tel. No. [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]