Connecting Central America (DEVCO)

"The ‘Connecting Central America’ project is financed primarily by the European Union (EU) and coordinated by the Secretariat for Economic Integration of Central America (SIECA). It forms part of the Central American Regional Economic Integration (INTEC) project, which aims at strengthening the economic integration in Central America and maximizing the benefits of the implementation of the Association Agreement signed between the European Union and Central America by reducing regional constraints to competitiveness and diversification. The objective is to strengthen the Central American capacity to market goods and services, through advice and support to SMEs in carefully selected value chains and the joint implementation with Business Support Organisations from the region. The performance of companies in Corporate Social Responsibility and the joint participation of Central American SMEs in European fairs are essential pillars of this initiative. This is a project with a duration of 4 years and aims to strengthen 60 Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) and cooperatives from Central America in becoming (more) competitive on the European market. The objective is for 48 SMEs to generate an additional export volume of € 90 million at the beginning of 2023. The project is unique in the sense that it covers six countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama) and four sectors (Specialty Coffees, Cacao & Derivatives, Fresh Fruits & Vegetables and Fish & Seafood). Sector-wide topics in the Export Enabling Environment are targeted in all sectors, to create a wider impact to more companies and cooperatives besides the project beneficiaries and to generate future-proof services for the four sectors. Especially in the Export Enabling Environment activities, CBI seeks cooperation with for example Business Support Organisations, (regional) sector associations, regional organisations supporting the business environment or Small and Medium Sized Enterpises, SIECA and the Delegations of the European Union. "