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TaiwanICDF assists youth in Guatemala to start up their own businesses: Gathering in a 500-year-old city reveals a new look for characteristic industries
To improve the success rate and income of Guatemalan youth entrepreneurship, since 2019, the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) has cooperated with Guatemala to promote the "Revitalization of Crafts and Youth Entrepreneurship in Antigua Guatemala and Surrounding Municipalities in Sacatepéquez" project (hereinafter the Revitalization Project) which counsels local characteristic industries, provides an innovation platform, introduces design thinking for local traditional handicrafts, and has so far assisted manufacturers to develop 12 new products through increased youth participation, the integration of industry-government-academic human resources, and focused branding. On September 1st this year, under the witness of the Minister of Economy Ministry of Guatemala Janio Rosales and the Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in Guatemala Li-Cheng Cheng, a closing ceremony was organized to present the final results.
According to the speech of Ambassador Li-Cheng Cheng, as part of the Revitalization Project, several training courses have been organized on different themes, guidance was provided for participating in exhibitions and business fairs, tourist routes were developed, and Youth Design Awards were organized to improve the production techniques, marketing capacity and sales channels of beneficiaries, and by extension to increase their incomes. Minister Janio Rosales responded to the affirmation of the project’s results saying that the Ministry of Economic Affairs will continue to provide mentoring for cooperation projects in the future, including the promotion of the 2nd Youth Design Awards, to continue the impacts of the project.
Among the beneficiaries of the project, the "Roberto Wood Workshop" is a typical family woodworking business in Guatemala, which is "passed down from father to son, son to grandson". The challenges they faced were a lack of stable customer sources and being limited to producing one type of product. By working with the project, this small workshop has gradually acquired the managerial capacity to enter bigger markets. In addition, the Revitalization Project cooperated with the Taiwan Design Research Institute this year to launch a cooperation model for minimalist dining tables and chairs, designed by Taiwanese designers and produced in local Guatemalan workshops. The final results were presented at the Guatemala Furniture Fair in July this year and received plenty of interest and orders during the fair. “Campos Wood Workshop” is a small wood workshop operated by a couple and their daughter. They started out making doors, windows and huge furniture, before later developing small handicrafts, which are simple but highlight the natural beauty of wood. During the implementation of the Revitalization Project, in addition to assisting the workshop to develop new products and enhance product diversity, the most important thing was to assist them in establishing their own brand and business logo, while stabilizing product sales and packaging towards their brand positioning.
To conclude, the Revitalization Project has assisted more than 700 beneficiaries in international deal negotiations and guided 94 beneficiaries to generate an annual income of US$238,342. The TaiwanICDF will continue to introduce Taiwan’s SME consulting experience and powerful design aesthetics to bring more benefits and create more business and employment opportunities for our diplomatic allies and other friendly countries.
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- Update: 2022/09/21
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