Enabling Entrepreneurship and Innovation Initiatives in Central America and the Caribbean
In
September, El Salvador and Belize launched important initiatives to support entrepreneurship and innovation for
inclusive development. In many ways, the progress made in both
countries builds on good practices and experiences from the
Americas, shared by key institutions and partners through the OAS.
On September 1st, the Technological Agro-industry Park (PTA) of El
Salvador received the
Social Innovation Award INNOVAGRO 2015 in Chile, recognizing
a technology to produce a drink supplement to improve the nutrition
of school children. On September 17, the Belize Trade and Investment
Development Service (BELTRAIDE) announced the start of the
construction of the new
Belize Enterprise and Innovation Institute (BEI2) in
partnership with the University of Belize.
On the one hand, the innovative bio-fortified corn supplement
--developed by the PTA of El Salvador, in collaboration with
different government institutions-- will benefit close to 40,000
students and local farmers in El Salvador, by providing a healthy
solution to complement children’s’ nutrition at school that will be
sourced with local produce. Rebeca Batista, Coordinator of the
Technology Park, highlighted that “this is the first time that El
Salvador receives an innovation award at this level, which helps to
validate the work of our researchers, and inspire the PTA team to
focus on new goals and objectives in the field of innovation.”
The technology of the fortified drink was
presented by the PTA of El Salvador in the OAS-supported
Technology
Transfer Academy of the Americas (ATTA) in December 2014. The
ATTA is a two-week hands-on training organized by the Organization
in partnership with the University of California in Davis and
CIBNOR, a specialized research center in Mexico, with financial
support from the governments of Canada and Mexico (CONACYT).
Recognizing the importance of the Park’s participation in the ATTA,
Ms. Batista said that “the guidance, input and support we received
from the instructors and colleagues from other countries during the
two-week exercise in the Academy helped us fine-tune our strategy to
manage the technology of the fortified drink, which greatly
contributed to our winning of the award in Chile and to define the
steps to implement the project in El Salvador.”
For its part, the Belizean entrepreneurship and innovation
ecosystem will be reinforced by the new Belize Enterprise and
Innovation Institute (BEI2), to be located at the University of
Belize. The BEI2, a Green and SMART building --a first in Belize --
will host BELTRAIDE’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and
Export Belize, creating a hub for supporting economic opportunities
for enterprises in the country.
Belize’s BELTRAIDE has participated in several of the
Organization’s programs to support small business development and
competitiveness in the region. As part of the OAS program
“Establishment of SBDCs in the Caribbean”, the country successfully
adapted and implemented the U. S. Small Business Development Centre
(SBDC) model, with the technical support of the University of Texas
at San Antonio (UTSA), and in partnership with the Permanent Mission
of the U.S. to the OAS. The success of the SBDC Belize and the
greater demand for its services led to the conceptualization of the
BEI2, as an enterprise and innovation hub - a one stop shop for
SMEs-- that would provide the nucleus for business growth and
development in the country.
Senior officials from BELTRAIDE have also
participated in other relevant OAS initiatives, such as the meetings
of high–level MSME authorities, and the
2014 and
2015
editions of the Americas Competitiveness Exchange (ACE). The ACE is
a high-level leadership and partnership-development program that
facilitates visits of decision-makers from the Americas to
high-impact innovation and entrepreneurship centers throughout the
region and is convened by the OAS, through the
Inter-American Competitiveness Network
(RIAC), the U.S. Departments of Commerce and State, and the
US/OAS, in collaboration with the government acting as sitting Chair
of the RIAC. Michael Singh, CEO of BELTRAIDE, highlighted that the
government of Belize, encouraged by the results achieved by several
of the initiatives visited during the ACE, decided to expand the
concept of the BEI2 to include incubators and innovation-driven
projects in partnership with the UB. “We are excited at the
possibilities that were identified during the ACE event and will be
working diligently on making these programs work for Belize.”
At the
ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the BEI2 this
month, the government emphasized that
“without the OAS, the US Mission to the OAS, and University
of Texas in San Antonio’s assistance, BELTRAIDE would not be able to
achieve all its successes under its SBDC Belize and Export Belize
and have this very notable milestone of the BEI2 groundbreaking”.
These are just two examples of how the OAS is supporting
entrepreneurship and innovation in the region. By bringing partners
and governments together, facilitating dialogue and experience
exchange, the Organization has become a strategic hub for regional
collaboration, and is building in-country capacity to effectively
enable member states to drive their own economic agendas.
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