The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and the German Development Bank (KfW) have appointed Parque Tec to conduct the first regional diagnosis on entrepreneurship. The study will cover seven countries in Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama. Both organizations support the study in order to foster regional entrepreneurial capability and, thus, to create fresh and innovative corporations, which will in turn generate new job opportunities for entrepreneurs and contribute to the economic growth of those countries.

When announcing this initiative, CABEI and the KfW acknowledged that, “It is hardly debatable that topics around entrepreneurs require knowledge and participation from various parties, mainly through [cooperation among] governments, the private sector, and academia”.

The study will portray the current entrepreneurship and innovation situation in each country. To this end, the study will systematically identify the actors and their roles within this sector and consider their current and potential impact in the national and regional strategy outline.

“The investigation will take place simultaneously around the region and the collected data will be used to create a comparative analysis of the enterprising process among the countries”, commented Marcelo Lebendiker, President of Parque Tec.

Cultural aspects, public policies, education, and access to financial resources and regulations are some of the factors that Parque Tec will focus on for each nation. The investigation will also provide a special focus on the role of women entrepreneurs in the region.

The goal of the study is to support policymakers and multilateral organisms in improving and promoting a constructive and successful approach to entrepreneurship.

About Parque Tec

Parque Tec is a non-profit organization that, since 2004, incubates and fosters Costa Rican entrepreneurs in the areas of Information Communication and Technology, as well as other technology-oriented areas. Parque Tec is responsible for the Business Incubation component of the Program for the Promotion of Dynamic Entrepreneurship in Costa Rica, funded by The Multi-lateral Investment Fund of the Inter-American Development Bank (MIF-IADB). During the 2007 and 2008, Parque Tec organized the Regional Forum of Incubation, Entrepreneurship and Technological Parks. Currently, Parque Tec has 15 startups in different stages of the incubation process. For more information about Parque Tec, please visit the Parque Tec profile in the iDISC Network Directory.