Project Name：Bamboo Development Project (Guatemala)

Project status：Completed projects

Cooperating Country：Central America, Guatemala

Project Description：

This project will assist Guatemala to diversify its bamboo industry by establishing a Central American Bamboo Development Center at which to provide assistance in bamboo cultivation, bamboo handicrafts (furniture, weaving and handicraft) and bamboo construction.
Overall, this project will:1.Assist Guatemalan authorities to establish bamboo cultivation, arts and crafts (furniture, weaving, handicrafts, etc.) practices, as well as bamboo construction techniques.2.Promote bamboo afforestation in Guatemala.

Project No：TCD-2011-B05-03

Implementation Start Date：2011-01-01

Implementation End Date：2012-12-31

Project Objectives：

The objectives of this project are:
1.Establish a multifunctional Central American Bamboo Development Center, which will focus on aspects of tourism, leisure, education and production; conduct training courses for 80 seed teachers and host visits by over 2,500 visitors.
2.Conduct six national exhibitions to encourage the construction of bamboo greenhouses and bamboo construction in general, as well as promote bamboo techniques.
3.Conduct eight training courses for 80 farmers, the content of which will include technical training for bamboo construction and bamboo furniture, as well as training for seed teachers.
4.Coordinate with actors in the Guatemalan public sector and the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in Guatemala to build 183 public bamboo houses.
5.Transfer the Central American Bamboo Development Center and bamboo cultivation, construction and furniture-making operations on to Guatemalan counterparts and continue to provide consultancy services after project transfer.

Executing Agency：

TaiwanICDF / Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) (Republic of Guatemala)

Implementation Arrangement：The TaiwanICDF will dispatch a project manager and specialists to assist the partner country to implement the project.

Projected Benefits：

1.Establish a multifunctional Central American Bamboo Development Center, which will focus on aspects of tourism, leisure, education and production.
2.Cooperate with the Guatemalan government to develop a bamboo construction plan, generating savings of 50 percent relative to the cost of brick-built houses.
3.Planting 100 hectares of bamboo will yield a substitute for timber and reduce deforestation.
4.The project will assist Guatemalan authorities to establish the foundations of a bamboo industry.

Mission：Taiwan Technical Mission in the Republic of Guatemala