IDB Fund Supports Inclusive Business Development in Peru and Ecuador

Monday, February 4, 2008

(Para la versi?n en espa?ol de este art?culo, v?ase el comunicado de prensa del BID)

The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) today announced approval of financing for two non-reimbursable technical cooperation projects in Peru and Ecuador, totaling US$1.6 million and US$1.5 million, respectively. Both projects will target inclusive business development at the base of the economic pyramid in order to boost income and employment levels for the low-income population. The two projects will incorporate low-income entrepreneurs into the value chain of private-sector enterprises.

More than 5,250 micro and small enterprises in Peru will receive technical assistance and training enabling them to participate in the value chains of seven anchor businesses committed to the project. Beneficiaries in Ecuador will include more than 4,850 micro and small enterprises that will be incorporated into the value chains of seven other anchor businesses.

The executing agencies for the projects will be the Peru and Ecuador offices of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation. Country counterpart financing will total about a million dollars for each country.

“Inclusive business development is an area that seems very promising to us as a mechanism for creating new economic opportunities by incorporating people with low incomes into the value chains of big businesses in a sustainable way,” said IDB team leader Daniel Shepherd. “In addition, these initiatives facilitate strategic private-sector participation in solving problems connected to poverty, while also promoting market access for the population at the bottom of the economic pyramid.”

This project is also one of the first programs launched by the MIF under the IDB?s “Opportunities for the Majority” initiative, which promotes and finances business innovations and partnerships to help improve income and quality of life in Latin America?s low-income communities.

The MIF, an autonomous fund administered by the IDB, promotes development of micro- and small enterprise in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has supported the expansion and professionalization of microfinance in the region since its creation.

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Source: WBCSD (link opens in a new window)