COUNTRIES: Ecuador, Colombia
FIELD OF INTERVENTION: Socio-economic Development, Gender Empowerment
SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT:
The action focuses on the creation and strengthening of sustainable clusters and networks of SMEs, as instruments to promote the growth and development of territories. The project provides for the creation of a network of women-led businesses, which supports the process of inter-regional integration and increases competitiveness through trade and exchanges of experience and the development of joint strengthening actions.
OBJECTIVES:
- Creating and consolidating 26 business clusters where 25% of SMEs is led by women.
- Increasing productivity for 260 Colombian and Ecuadorian SMEs, developing their competences and improving their competitive offer.
- Strengthening the institutional capacity of four entrepreneurial organizations through the improvement and growth of new business development services and transfer of best practice by the European partner Progetto Sud.
- Dynamizing the market of business development services by fostering innovation and reinforcing the public-private partnerships. The project will provide a new impetus and will extend the experience gained in AL-Invest 4, concerning the creation of business clusters, as basic framework for developing a global action, together with the creation of an entrepreneurial social network concerning trade and know-how, which will represent the added value for impacting the beneficiary sectors.
ACTIVITIES:
- Strengthening of institutional and business capacities of the entrepreneurial organizations.
- Mutual connection between SMEs and creation of business clusters.
- Direct support to SMEs through business clusters.
- Transfer of Best Practices and creation of a competitive business environment (creation of a public/private agenda for territorial development and gender policy, of a network for the entrepreneurial empowerment of women; development of a territorial scheme for assisting SMEs).
RESULTS:
- SMEs are inter-connected through binding mechanisms for businesses.
- The participating SMEs increase productivity and competitiveness.
- The participating entrepreneurial organizations strengthen their institutional capacity.
- The market for business development services in Latin America is enhanced.
DONOR: CAINCO – Camara de Comercio, Servicios y Turismo de Santa Cruz (Bolivia), European Commission Programme AL-Invest 5.0.
TIME PERIOD/DURATION: 2016 – 2018 (24 months)
PARTNERSHIP: Lead applicant: Bucaramanga Chamber of Commerce. Partner: Progetto Sud.
