Project Name：Assisting the Economic Empowerment of Youth and Women Project in Latin America and the Caribbean in the Post COVID-19 Era Project / St. Lucia

Project status：Projects in Operation

Cooperating Country：Caribbean, St. Lucia

Project Description：

To support the post-pandemic economic recovery of our allies in Latin America and the Caribbean, and to maintain social stability through enhancing youth and women's economic empowerment, this project aligns with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' policy planning. By integrating financial services with employment and entrepreneurial capacity building, it aims to assist youth, women and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in coping with the impact of the pandemic, thereby promoting economic recovery and social stability in our allied countries. The main components of the project include:

1. Vocational skills training for youth and women
2. Youth and Women's entrepreneurship incubation and guidance
3. Relief guidance for MSMEs

Implementation Start Date：2021-11-22

Implementation End Date：2025-12-31

Project Objectives：

1. Provide vocational skills training for youth and women.
2. Offer youth and women’s entrepreneurship incubation and guidance.
3. Provide relief guidance for MSMEs.

Executing Agency：

Office of the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia
Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and the Youth Economy
Ministry of Youth Development and Sports
Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training
Ministry of Commerce, Manufacturing, Business Development, Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs
Ministry of Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information
Cultural Development Foundation
Laborie Digital Development Centre
Sir Arthur Lewis Community College
Taiwan Technical Mission in Saint Lucia

Current Progress：

By the end of December 2024, the project successfully concluded with the following achievements:

1. Vocational Skills Training for Youth an Women. Providing hands-on courses on the knowledge and skills required by youth and women at different stages of micro-entrepreneurship, total organized 15 training sessions and trained 525 youths and women, counseled 139 cases of proposal submitted.
2. Youth and Women's Entrepreneurial Development Counseling: Providing guidance to the trainees in writing their business plans, discussing possible business models, and assisting in matching funds and angel investors to increase their chances of success, total organized 11 training sessions and provided coaching service to 640 startups.
3. Relief counseling for MSMEs. Providing guidance to MSMEs such as conducting training sessions on business management and financial planning in production, marketing, human resources and finance to strengthen their business capacity to cope with the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, total organized 2 training sessions and provided coaching service to 161 startups.

Project Contact：Yeh Min Yu

Phone：+886-2-28886028

E-mail：m.y.yeh@icdf.org.tw

Signing Date：2021-11-22

Projected Benefits：

The project aims to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on St. Lucia' economic growth and social stability. By integrating financial services with employment and entrepreneurial capacity building, the project supports youth, women and MSMEs in coping with the pandemic, promoting economic recovery and social stability in allied countries.

Mission：Taiwan Techical Mission in Saint Lucia